JOIN USThe Information Technology (IT) industry is making rapid strides in India and across the globe. According to a recent report by NASSCOM, India’s IT industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12% to 14% during 2016-2017. No wonder IT is considered as a promising and lucrative career choice by thousands of university graduates across the country.
Realising that IT proliferation can dramatically change the country, the government is laying huge emphasis on digital literacy. Even the previously unorganised, small-scale enterprises and service providers are embracing IT as an integral part of their workflow. Besides lucrative opportunities and career prospects, IT education also offers various areas of specialisation.
Indian IT organisations have traditionally been quite self-sufficient in developing the skills of their manpower. They executed this through strong incubation and internal training processes. As the job market within IT expanded exponentially, students got easy placements and the organisations took care of grooming them according to client requirements.
Short-term courses
This bourgeoning opportunity also attracted many graduates to this field. Responding to this market demand, the late 80s and 90s saw huge growth in the number of private training organisations providing IT education to sections of youth. Slowly, these institutions started getting noticed within the hiring organisations and thereby created a huge pool of industry-ready people.
Over the past few years, we are observing another churn in the training industry. With rapid technological advances in service delivery, the skills required are changing very dramatically. Along with this, a recessive environment has led to steady decrease in outsourcing business. As a result, IT organisations are forced to create value propositions mapping with the current environment.
As this message flows out to career aspirants, they are looking for short-term courses rather than year-long career programmes. Most training organisations have adapted to this new requirement and are offering the model of ‘flip classroom’ which enables learners to spend more time on self-study. With better knowledge, today’s career aspirants are better-informed about skills and technology that are required in the industry.
The higher education sector in the country mostly offers degrees such as BTech, BE, MCA, MSc with respect to IT engineering from the technical perspective, but the practical aspects of technology are often overlooked. Add to this a complete lack of scenario-based teaching and inadequate infrastructure. This leads to challenges in employability and leads to a demand-supply gap in the sector.
Competitive edge
New-age careers in IT demand a dynamic approach, progressive vision and quick adaptability. Going forward, disruptive technology innovations such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cyber security offer interesting avenues for aspirants in this sector.
As more private companies leverage automation of their processes, newer opportunities will arise. Demystifying the ‘next big opportunities’ in the sector needs amplified levels of education, skilling and domain knowledge. This is where IT certifications and training can play an important role.
In today’s dynamic work environment, acquiring professional qualifications is important, but equipping yourself with the right IT certifications can take your career to new heights altogether. These certifications could be on subjects such as Data security, Project management and Big data. They enhance your resume and tell employers that you have the right skills for the job. It’s also a reflection of your commitment to continued education, and tells your employer that you have the competitive edge over your peers.
With the horizon of Information and Communication Technology rapidly evolving and many companies moving towards a digitalised economy, many feel the need to constantly upgrade their skills to stay relevant. To acquire skill sets based on your interest, short-term courses and certifications are great options to prominently establish your competency towards a special area of expertise.
On the other hand, the subjectivity of classroom education (or virtual classrooms) cannot be underestimated, especially if you are opting for a long-term career in this field. Embracing a sustainable balance of both in a more comprehensive and time-specific manner can be the ideal way out here for the new-age IT education consumer.
(The author is regional director, CompTIA India)