India
is a developing country and education is the backbone of its progress. The past
few years have seen tremendous growth in the Indian job market where employers
are increasingly looking for candidates equipped with skills specific to an
area. They need professionals who can understand the functioning of a specific
industry and deliver as per their requirement.
With
rapid advancement in all areas of industry whether information, technology,
education, management and others, they are looking for very young people who
not only have the required skills but also have the foundations to pick up
changes in skill requirements in specific areas as fast as possible. This is
because it is a known fact that the human brain slows down as we grow
older. It is in this context that
undergraduate professional degrees play an important and vital role.
Each
year thousands of students graduate and start competing in the job market. In a
situation like this, it is essential for a student to have an edge that will
help him/her out in the crowd. In order
to prepare oneself for such a challenge, a student needs to opt for degrees
that equip him/her with the knowledge of the industry. Undergraduate professional
degrees like BCA, BBA, BJMC, B.Ed and others provide the students with direct
knowledge of the industry, help them develop the required professional skills
and leave the door open for higher studies at their leisure.
Today,
the undergraduate professional degrees syllabi are designed keeping in mind
that students are coming to study directly from school and hence, provide basic
foundations needed before starting the profession-oriented subjects. At times,
they also include personality development skills which benefit the student when
working in a team in their respective profession.
In
order that the students have a better understanding of the industry for which
they are trained, these undergraduate professional degrees include guest
lectures, industrial visits and summer internships which greatly benefit the
students by giving them practical experience in addition to the classroom
training.
Guest
lectures are generally given by people from the industry. They are the best to take advice from as they
have ‘been there, done that’. They help students with their experiences and
valuable tips from on and off the field. They students also learn a lot about
the corporate world. Students pursuing
undergraduate professional degrees get to go for industrial visits wherein they
get to know the ground realities. These visits help them in identifying the
soft skills, the industry standards and other related aspects of working in
that particular industry.
Summer internships are one of the best ways through
which students get to have a firsthand experience of the professional world.
Through the internships, students get ample opportunities for networking in the
appropriate area. They get to be in the field and in addition to classroom
training; they get to see things functioning in front of them and thus have a
great learning experience. The internships also help them while applying for
jobs as companies look for candidates with experience.
The economy is changing drastically and industries
are in need of more and more young professionals trained in specific areas with
ability to pickup changes in their field quickly in comparison others. Students
with such skills will be absorbed into various jobs without having to wait for
long in comparison to the others, who may spend a much longer time waiting to
get absorbed and wait even longer to see growth in their careers. Undergraduate
professional degrees cater to this demand by providing students with the
necessary foundation and professional training they need to build their careers
successfully.
Tags:
Undergraduate
Jobs
Higher Studies
Career
About the Author
<p>Damayanti Datta, PhD, PGP-X (IIM-A)The author is Associate Dean at School of Information Technology, IMS NOIDA<br></p>