a) I may have cleared entrance examinations.
b) I may have, or by the end of my degree will come to terms with the ‘jugaad’ approach to things.
c) I may finally become an engineer, an analyst/consultant or a manager.
Point a) is by virtue of the sheer number of engineering institutions in the country and the even larger number of people trying to get in, leading to examinations of various scales.
Point b) is a theory I might one day publish a paper on... :)Okay....maybe(hah! careful choice of words) I won’t...but I am the one who originally came up with it. There is something about engineering. About how the inevitable encounter with ED is literally the most effective humbling experience. About how, after 45 classes, 12 chapters and 200+ derivations, you learn that all the mathematics involved is too complex to ever design an antenna with just pen and paper.
Point c), I agree is the most arguable. There are people who take up other professions after an undergraduate degree in engineering. Of course they do.
There are some people who know what they want in life. Or rather, there are some people who have found out what they want to do in their life, either before or within the course of their undergraduate years in engineering. This is not about those people.
For the rest of us, who still aren’t sure....there is going to be a time to make a decision. So here are the decisions we must make.
1. Whether you want to go for higher studies in a field of interest.
2. Or whether you would straightway go for the job available in your branch of engineering.
3. Or whether you would like to take up any other job profile available through campus placements, say a consultancy job.
4. Or is it an MBA you would want to do?
1. Whether you want to go for higher studies in a field of interest.
2. Or whether you would straightway go for the job available in your branch of engineering.
3. Or whether you would like to take up any other job profile available through campus placements, say a consultancy job.
4. Or is it an MBA you would want to do?
These are the four questions everyone asks themselves at NSIT. And there are several deciding parameters. One is money. Then, there’s money. Then there are other things.. for example , an interest or lack of one in finance. A senior/relative/neighbour who became an investment banker. The average annual salary of an IIM graduate.
Even the most enthusiastic creators prepare for the CAT. The most natural of coders take up a consultancy job.I don’t say there’s anything wrong with wanting money. Actually, that’s an understatement. I myself Want money... loads of it. I dealt with those four questions by a process of elimination, and decided on an mba. Obviously, money was The factor.
But some time later, I just decided to look back and analyse. I got brave enough to question those questions. Yes, I became an engineer, and that does influence my choices....but why should it restrict them. Yes an mba will bring me money, and yes, the IIM’s get to be more selective than Harvard...getting there can’t hurt, but is that reason enough to make that choice?
I don’t intend to explain how it is more important to follow your interest, your passion in life. Aamir Khan does that well enough. But what if I don’t have a passion? Should I stick to the four questions? Well, I didn’t think much before deciding on engineering. But I am not going to repeat that anymore.
So I am in pursuit. I intend to find out more. The questions are still about the same things...only I choose to overlook the numbers.
