Spend Rs5 lakh for engineering degree, but don’t expect a job

Despite their middle-class background, Vikas Kumar’s parents shelled out Rs5 lakh during his four years at an engineering college. His institute, however, saw just four to five firms treading in for placements last year. The companies picked only 50-60 students from a batch of 220 across streams - computer science, information science, civil, mechanical, etc. Since he graduated a few months ago, Kumar, 22, has been knocking at every possible opportunity and shelling out over Rs55,000 in the process. “I have registered on quite a few job sites for freshers, approached the placement co-ordinator of another institute, registered in the campus pool of other colleges as well as enrolled for a course in networking,” said Kumar, who did his engineering in computer science from an institute in Chickballapur, about 56 km north of Bangalore. To hone his potential, Kumar paid nearly Rs48,000 for a six-month networking course. He has also paid Rs4,000 for getting registered for placements with another college in Bangalore while simultaneously spending Rs3,500 for registering on two job sites. “Despite doing all this, there is no guarantee that I might get a decent job. My college is busy with placements for the current batch and has no time to consider ex-students,” said Kumar. Many of his classmates have also doled out similar amounts in the quest to get a job. Many are doing courses pertaining to VLSI (very large-scale integration), embedded technology, mobile communications, programming, etc, paying anywhere between Rs35,000-Rs50,000 for a duration of two to six months. Saicharan Shetty, another fresh engineering graduate who paid over Rs4.5 lakh for graduation, did a two-month networking course in August-September for Rs22,000. He plans to shell out another Rs12,000 for giving the course exam. Passing the exam will guarantee him a certificate certified by a Nasdaq-listed networking firm. “Neither the institute from where I did the course nor my college will help in my job hunt. In short, it means investing more and more effort and money for returns which are not guaranteed,” said Shetty. Experts said this trend is highly prevalent, especially with students hailing from lesser- known colleges. Estimates reveal that just 25% of engineering students get job offers by the time they graduate. “Three of four kids are jobless at the time of graduation. They need to then run from pillar to post to figure out ways to get jobs,” said Amit Bhatia, CEO of Gurgaon-based employability education firm Aspire. This happens as top recruiters visit only renowned campuses, while setting yardsticks of minimum cut-offs. “Students should score not less than 60% or 70% in their semester exams to be eligible for placements is what some firms as well as colleges stipulate. This excludes several students,” said an HR official from an IT firm. Shetty said as there was no structured guidance available on what to do post graduation, freshers end up emptying the pockets of their parents. However, in rare cases, colleges do call upon ex-students who are jobless, if they get approached by companies with a sudden requirement for talent, said Bhatia. By Priyanka Golikeri | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA