When the novelty wears off...

LOSING GLORY

When technical universities started offering engineering courses in bio-technology a few years ago, students rushed to enrol themselves thinking BT would become another IT sector. Sadly, that much-hyped boom never happened. In the same way, MCA courses which were popular earlier because of their job-oriented curriculum and course structure, too have had a few takers since last year with most colleges being unable to fill their seats.

Those who took these courses up with dreams of a lucrative career and high salary had to face the harsh reality by the time they graduated. Those who managed to get a job during campus recruitments were lucky. In the case of bio-technology, most students switched to other fields like software. Vishwanath, who completed his engineering degree in bio-technology from one of the prestigious colleges in the City last year, is still without a job and says he regrets taking up this course. “When I secured a good ranking in the CET, I had not decided on which stream I was going to opt for. During that time, everyone was talking about BT. As I have come from a rural area, I did not know much about that field. But I decided to go with the popular opinion. By the time I finished my course, I regretted selecting this course. If I had done a bachelor’s degree in the same subject, I would have gotten a better job,” says Vishwanath.

Avinash, who did his MCA after completing B Sc, was placed recently. However, he is not satisfied with his job. “Even after doing a three year course in computer application, I could not find a better job for myself. The work I am doing now is not at all related to what I had learnt in the course,” he says. Harsha, a computer science student at the New Horizon College of Engineering, advises not to choose a course based on its popularity. “Students have always faced the dilemma of choosing between popular and core courses. When I was going to join engineering, a lot of people had told me to take up civil, aeronautics or automobile engineering, which were hyped during that time. But I stuck to computer science,” he says.

“A lot of students select courses based on the popularity of the course rather than their own interest in the subject because they assume that by doing a popular course, they will easily get a job. Even if that happens, it is not easy to continue in a field that we don’t love. Every course is useful and if a student is focused enough, he or she will definitely find a career. So instead of searching an ‘easy way out’ towards a secured future, it is better to choose a steady way,” he says.

Students with family obligations usually look for courses which assure good jobs. And with the money involved in professional courses, it is but natural for them to opt for streams which are in demand. “At the end of the day, one should learnt to strike a balance between livelihood and interest. The market is so volatile that no one can predict what will happen next. Though I am from the stream of electronics and communication, I had to select a software job as not many core companies turned up for campus recruitment. So we should act accordingly as the situation comes. In the present scenario regardless of the courses, one should be flexible to adapt to the market conditions,” says Alok, a student of BNMS.