How did HE get a CORE job right out of college?

“Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,” says Jatin Chotaliya, who joined a CORE company right out of college. 3 years into Ambetronics Engineers Pvt. Ltd., he quickly rose to the position of Project Manager and currently works on In-vehicle networking systems of India’s first indigenously designed sports car. What interests us is how did he start his career as an R&D engineer after his BE from Mumbai University.

Why did you not join IT services?

I got selected on campus by HCL technologies. But, I was not keen to do a desk job or write endless lines of code. Moreover, I chose to pursue engineering in electronics because I loved hardware electronics. I decided not join HCL.

How did you get your current job?

I realized in my second year that core companies hardly come for campus placements. I was determined that I will not join an IT services firm and waste my four years of engineering. So, I started talking to seniors and friends who worked for core industries. Many suggested internship was the way to go. I tried couple of companies, none entertained me. They all wanted to know if I have done any projects!

I decided to make a project. Since, I wanted to get into automotive industry, I built a datalogger. I took this project to the company that had refused to give me an internship. This time, they not just entertained me, they recruited me! That’s my story!

Three tips you would give for engineering students who aspire for a core job

1. Identify your favorite industry. It can be automotive or electronic products or manufacturing. Narrow down companies in that area. Thoroughly study the company website, their products and solutions, follow their blogs and media reports. Also, stay updated with current trends in that industry. Primarily, get to know the industry and the company as if you are already working!

2. Make a prototype or a proof of concept to improve an existing solution provided by that company. The improvement may be incremental. You do not need to innovate to a great extent to catch their eyeballs.  If you do manage a game changing innovation, world is at your feet. I insist again, make projects.

3. Lastly, as many of us assume, making projects is not expensive. With the open source revolution, almost every tool and software has an open source alternate. All you need to do is break the INERTIA.

All the Best! 

Companies Are Demanding Hard Skills Over Soft Skills

One of the biggest challenges engineering students face is finding a core engineering job. Campus placements are largely skewed towards IT services. Conversely, companies are struggling to recruit engineering talent. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s India Skills report 2014 identified a skill gap of 75-80% across Industry sectors. But, what is the SKILL they are talking about?

According to the study, HR managers are prioritizing hard skills. 75 percent of HR managers said they focus more on hard skills when hiring, versus only 25 percent who focus more on personality. 45 percent of the HR managers said they expect to become even more skills-focused in 10 years (versus only 11 percent who expect to become more personality-focused).

But, how do you as an engineering student know what HARD skills to gain?  Follow this quick exercise…

1. List down your favorite companies relevant to your specialization. If you are an electronics engineer, you may list Siemens, Samsung, INTEL and the likes…

2. Find out the profiles offered by these companies to fresh engineers. You can use a variety of resources ranging from company websites, Linked In, job portals or talk to employees of the company.

3. Make note of the skills required for different opportunities listed. Eg. Intel requires their embedded systems engineer to know python programming or Siemens requires their automation engineer to be an expert in control systems.

4. Learn the skills. Explore for avenues to learn. You may enroll for a free class online at Coursera.com or attend a workshop to learn the skill hands-on! Choose a class based on your learning preference. 

Do not idle around waiting for companies to come and pick you for mediocre profiles. Invest in yourself, pursue excellence, and bag your dream job!!

If you have any queries regarding skill development, comment on this blog post or write to us at aneesha@educationdebunked.com.

4 Awesome DIY website for every engineering student

The smell of molten solder iron, the thrill of connections, and bringing ideas to life is addictive. Few online aids to nurture this addiction!

1. Adafruit: Exhaustive and Inspiring!

You will find projects of varying levels ranging from blinking a simple LED to designing a laser dog goggles to building a complex media center. Crisp and easy to follow tutorials keeps you motivated. 

The exact components and tools used in many of the projects may not be available in India, however, generic alternates are plenty. A little imagination and a trip to lamington road will help you build the project frugally!

2. Instructables: True to its name!

Instructables is filled with amazing reader-contributed, tech and non-tech projects. Step-by-step instructions, relevant photographs and an active user community make it super-interesting.

Since the website is crowd-sourced, few project instructions may be low on accuracy. Use your discretion. Overall, Instructables is one of the best sites for DIY projects.

3. Make: Fuel to your mental fire!

Make is a charming, little DIY nut book that offers fascinating articles for constructing just about anything. You can check ‘Make Youtube’ channel for project videos. The magazine organizes Maker’s Faire across the world where tech enthusiasts, crafters, educators, tinkerers, hobbyists and engineers gather to show and share their creations. 

The Indian version, MakerFest, will be held on 10th and 11th of January, 2015 at CEPT University, Ahmedabad. A must attend event for all engineers.

4. Little Bits: Power of electronics without soldering!

LittleBits manufactures innovative electronic kits and modules that snap together (using magnets) to make exciting projects. What interests us is their project section which is full of wacky project ideas!

Don’t let this vacation pass without getting your hands dirty. Write to us with project ideas, queries, and photographs of your projects. We promise to publish the best entries on our blog. You can email at deepak@educationdebunked.com.

3 things you MUST do to get a CORE JOB

1. Projects

If you are in your first year of engineering, time is on your side! Do as many projects as you can. Don’t bother about what you do not know. Adopt ‘learn-as-you-go’ and dive in! 

If you are in third year, better late than never.The more you make, create and learn in the process, stronger is your resume and better you are at core company interviews! 

2. Internships

Companies love students who do projects. If I was a car manufacturer and you approach me with your car data logger project, I would be delighted. You are different. Show you are worthy and companies will love you.

If a company is reluctant to give you a chance, ask for a in-house non-critical project. Every company has couple of projects lying around unfinished  for the lack of  resources - both time and human. Pitch in and show your resourcefulness. 

Most importantly, keep your promise. Finish the project on time.

3. Network

Spend as much time on Linkedin as you spend on Facebook. Build a LinkedIn profile with focus on projects and internships.

Find people who work for your dream companies. Seek out to them via email. Write polite and professional emails. 90 out of 100 times they will respond. Do not ask them for a job. 

Build relationships, job opportunities will follow.

The KICK of making it work

That feeling of making it work, when you know no one else will endure through this. You want to sit for a little longer, push your boundaries a little further, one small step at a time, because you care enough!

You read up when you see a problem, even when everyone else is tired of solving problems. 

You JUST cannot let go because you know you can make it better... you read, you understand, you write, you come up with a hypothesis, an equation, a program, a code, a circuit and want to make it work, you know it will work, but maybe not? 

You are ready to press the button to test it, its pure joy or sheer fall! The moment of truth and you take the leap of faith.It works beautifully, it moves with grace, slow and steady rising to its maximum potential, waking all the others who had given up long ago. 

You made it work just because you cared enough, not because you were the only one who could have done it.  And that bond is set forever, the sheer joy of making IT work!

Have YOU experienced this?  Tell us when and why!

He scales the mountain, because he's not afraid of it. He slays the dragon, because he's not afraid of him. And he walks through hellfire... because Broomhilda's worth it. 
--Dr King Schultz in Django Unchained, originally Quentin Tarantino