Since independence, engineers have played a major role in nation building activities pertaining to the creation of marvelous engineering feats in the form of Bhakra Dam, Bhabha Atomic Power Station, ISRO and DRDO, and the pinnacle of it all, Chandrayan and Mars Mission. Today, the Indian government funds billions of dollars into advanced engineering projects that are planned, executed, and maintained by engineers passing from some of the best engineering colleges in India.
In this article, we have highlighted the top reasons why engineering students have the best of both worlds in the private as well public sector, passing from the best engineering colleges in India.
#1 Admission into Engineering Colleges is a Tough Challenge
Despite a significant rise in the number of engineering colleges in India, the number of students who eventually get into these courses through entrance examinations remains abysmally low. Around 37% of the admitted students score anywhere between 40% and 57% in their entrance examinations or 10+2, which means they are often forced to take admissions into colleges that either rank very low in the overall quality charts, or are forced to take admission into a specialization that may not be that much popular in the University, considering seats are still vacant there! So, the number one reason the private versus public debate comes into the picture is because of the admission process. Engineering colleges affiliated to government funded institutions are seen as the best source of talent pooling into government services, such as the Indian Railways Board, Indian Army, Navy, and Indian air force, DRDO, ISRO, ONGC, BHEL, SAIL, and HAL.
#2 Government Engineering Jobs Guarantee 30+ Years of Assured Employability
If you pass out from an engineering college at 21 or 22 years, which is an average exit level age of a junior graduate engineer, and prepare dedicatedly to get into a government sector job, you should have 30+ years of solid career irrespective of the promotions and hikes that usually come your way by virtue of your aptitude, hard work, and interpersonal relationship. The job is secured, and the salary is more or less at par with the rising inflation rates. Yes, the growth in comparison to a private professional in the same job title would be earning much more, but the roles demand all kinds of additional responsibilities and are still mired with insecurity, joblessness, and global exigencies. For example, if the US gets into a war with one of its enemies, the private IT professionals are often the first to feel the dent in their careers. The same happens when the US or other countries change their VISA policies for ex-pats working in their countries.
So, government jobs still rule the roost in India, as far as choices go among undergraduate engineering students enrolled with BE and B Tech colleges delivering courses in Mechanical Engineering, IT, Computer Science, Civil, Electrical, and so on.
#3 Scope of Learning and Entrepreneurial Experience is highest in Private Jobs
Where public jobs fail, private institutions rise to the occasion, and how! In a fast growing startup ecosystem like India, you will find all the major companies hiring from top B Tech colleges in UP, MP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, TN, and Karnataka where talent in IT, Electronics and Electrical and CS engineering come easy and cheap. But, that’s not the only reason. Private jobs allow engineers to express their creativity and ingenuity in a more systematic manner, enabling them to develop their leadership skills- something that every organization is ready to further polish and pay up for in the future opportunities. If you are someone with an entrepreneurial streak, a private engineering job experience would hold you in good stead, especially in the IT industry.
Even today, the sheer reputation of a graduate engineer selected for a government job remains intact. This is despite the fact that their peers and juniors could be earning 10x more in private jobs in India or abroad! In India, the first choice for most engineering Under Graduate students remain the GATE examination that would allow them to explore a fascinating career option in the government sector, which year after year seems to be going privatization but the ethos remains the same – serving the nation in the most dedicated and devoted way, participating in nation building like no other. That’s why even engineers working in traditionally private firms but affiliated to nation building such as Mahindra and Mahindra, Tata Steel, L&T, and others retain the glory of private-funded public engineering jobs.
