Earn, learn and grow

Short-term programmes

High school, college, higher education and then a job — while this route may seem simple to many Indian students today, there are many others who are unable to even complete an undergraduate degree because they do not have the opportunity or the funds to do so.

For such students, the usual route after school is to take up low-paying jobs and try to work their way up.

It is to help such students that St Joseph’s Community College, in association with the Wadhwani Foundation (an NGO) and [24]7 Inc.

(a technology solutions company), have come together to set up a novel course called Career@ITworld: Earn, Learn and Grow into a Global Career. The programme aims to create an industry-ready workforce by equipping students with ‘employability skills’.

Students who sign up for this course will be trained at St Joseph’s Community College for three months, after which they will intern at [24]7 Inc. for three more months. Classroom training will focus on IT skills, business communication, soft skills and domain-specific skills.

The students will be given a conditional offer letter at the beginning of the course; when they complete the course and the internship successfully and this will be converted into a job offer. Students will receive a diploma certificate from St Joseph’s Community College, and will be employed full-time at [24]7 Inc. Students will be offered jobs in the company’s delivery centres.

“The advantage of this course is that the student will be job-ready in six months,” says Father Francis Guntipilly, Principal of St Joseph’s Community College. “The student gets the benefit of studying in a college, and can also work at the same time. There is the double advantage of not waiting for the degree to be over to earn a livelihood,” he adds.

The programme is ‘industry integrated’ – which means that [24]7 Inc., the industry and knowledge partner, has a say in the syllabus, in terms of listing out the industry requirements. The entire curriculum is driven by the needs of the company, and will therefore focus on practical and soft skills that students would not have, if they pursued a theory-heavy BSc degree.

This programme creates a win-win situation for the student, the college and the industry. It means guaranteed employment to the students of St Joseph’s Community College, while the industry partner can be assured of employees who have the right skills for the IT industry.

According to Animesh Jain, Chief Delivery Officer, India, [24]7 Inc., “Employability skills are the most important attributes that businesses look for in new recruits. The competition for jobs being intense, it is vital for students to proactively develop relevant employability skills like business communication, basics of computing, orientation to customer service and good command of spoken and written English. We believe that Career@ITworld will ensure a steady stream of employable talent pool.”

To begin with, 500 students will be trained in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The Wadhwani Foundation plans to take this as a case study and extend to other cities across the nation too.

Students who have completed Class 12 in any discipline can apply for the Career@ITworld course. The course fee is Rs 9,000 to be paid in instalments; Rs 3,000 to be paid before the course begins, and the rest to be deducted from the student’s internship fee.

For applications and further details, contact: The Principal, St Josephs’ Community College, Vittal Mallya Road, or send an e-mail to [e-mail] or call Vijay on [phone].