Everyone’s talking about engineering. It’s the most popular choice of career in India. The unsaid rule is, “If you want to do something, do it after engineering.” Unfortunately, engineering is not what it used to be.

Are you an engineering aspirant? If yes, then there are a few things you need to be careful about. After all, engineering is undergoing a sudden transition. Let’s have a look at these changing dimensions of engineering.

1. Degrading quality:

There are about 16 lakh engineering seats in India, which means India is a producer of over 10 lakh engineers annually. This intake increases every year. The increasing quantity of engineers eventually affects their quality. This is also due to poor quality of education, teaching and facilities. Most of these engineers lack technical and communication skills required for a professional job.

2. Huge rift:

All engineering colleges aren’t the same. While IITs, NITs and other reputed colleges are prospering, things are drastically different in Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges. There exists a huge rift between these colleges when it comes to faculty, infrastructure, curriculum and placements. So, make sure that you get into a well-reputed college.

3. Lack of jobs:

While IITs, NITs and other reputed colleges offer 100% placements, students from other colleges struggle for jobs. With over 15 lakh engineers graduating every year, the job opportunities seem insufficient. Therefore, only about 70% of these engineers are able to find jobs. This leaves around 5 lakh students unemployed.

4. Waste of resources:

Now, what happens to these 5 lakh engineers? They stay unemployed till they find employment. Some apply for certification courses which would increase their value, but eventually most of them lose patience and end up joining BPOs, call-centers, sales and marketing jobs which aren’t actually meant for engineers. This is sheer waste of money and time invested in four years of engineering.

5. Un(der)employment:

After unemployment, comes underemployment. In IITs, NITs and other reputed colleges there are dream companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Samsung, etc offering packages as high as Rs 2 crores and average packages around Rs 9 lakh. But other colleges aren’t so fortunate. Students from Tier-3 colleges have average packages ranging between Rs 1.80 to Rs 2 lakh. This kind of payment is highly unsuitable for an engineer. After four grueling years of engineering, students deserve a package of at least Rs 3 lakh.

So, think before you leap. Engineering does not promise a comfortable and prosperous life as it used to. Before choosing a college, make sure it has good accreditation, infrastructure, faculty and, most importantly, placements.

This article is part of PaGaLGuY’s innovative internship certification programme for engineering students. Currently, two such programmes are on – one is an Internship in Creative Writing, and the other is a Certification in Digital Media. If you are interested in partaking and bagging a certificate, besides learning the nuances of effective writing, write to us at [email protected].