The Engineering Dilemma

Fun Facts

• Only 47% of Indian graduates are employable
• Average Indian Graduate Salary - 2.5 lpa
• 6 Lac+ engineers graduate every year

In the Indian context, everybody is aware how difficult it is for a graduate engineer to secure a job in the current market. More than 50% of engineers that graduate every year are struggling without jobs only. This is mainly because the engineering scenario in India has been highly IT dependent and since the top IT companies started to fail, hiring ceased leaving lacs of engineers jobless.

So many of them opted to go for higher education to increase their chances of getting an employment, living in a new country and the chance of making a lot more money than how much one would make in India. But is all this really worth it? At Rs 62, an average fee for Masters in the US would cost about 30-35 lacs and one would start out for a salary not higher than $80,000.

So in effect, you would be taking at least 3 year to start saving up money and earning some profit out of it. True that the lifestyle that you'd live in the US is much better than in India but there are always a few factors that you need to consider before going abroad.

• Strong course which has a good Alumni network
• Avoiding Specialized Courses
• Beware of 1 year course ( if without work exp)

The smart way out of this is trying to understand whether you really want to pursue a career on the technical side of life or the management. We often hear of Masters students who at the end of it, admit to not enjoying their work as much as they thought they would. The only way to counter this is by working for a period of 2 years trying to understand what you're passionate about and then following it up with a Masters. This will also help you find internships and landing up with a good job post completion of your coursework.

If you did not enjoy the work you did for 2 years and you wish to shift your field. Make sure you take up coursework in the field of your interest prior to applying for a Masters or an MBA. It is important to gain experience in the field of your choice( in case of a shift: engineering to Marketing/Finance) as it will help you support yourself whilst you struggle for an internship.

Most importantly, don't run behind the trends you see on blogs and magazines about colleges and coursework. A lot of it is paid media and you need to be wary of the consequences of taking up specialized courses without prior work experience in the same. Experience the work yourself, if you're passionate about it, then follow up with a Masters.