In an exclusive interview with Higher Education Review, Dr Rima Chowdhury, Executive Vice President & CHRO, Datamatics shares her valuable insights on the Indian engineering education landscape, the increasing importance of inculcating soft skills in students, growing popularity of online certification programs and more.   

A recent study has found that only 5.5 percent of engineers in India are qualified with basic programming abilities. Considering this, how do you view the landscape of engineering education in India?    

I have seen the engineering profession go through multiple paradigm shifts over a period of time. During these changes, I saw the engineering profession hit its pinnacle and dip down into its lows. There were even times when an engineering degree was no longer considered to be sufficient to build a successful career and everybody saw the completion of the degree as a pathway to get into a management course. And now, I am seeing a new found interest in this field which can largely be attributed to the IT wave. It is very encouraging that there are students who are passionate about this profession. Another aspect that can help engineering education gain more momentum in the country is the increasing focus on ‘Make in India’ initiative. 

Technology advancements and innovations are happening at a rapid pace. In light of this, how can engineering students keep pace with the latest technology trends to get employed in the knowledge economy?  

Low employability of engineering students is a major concern in India. How do we deal with this and why is this happening? It’s happening primarily because of the lack of access to the right engineering infrastructure. Another aspect is the quality of faculty and we need more people from the industry to nurture the young engineering talent. That said, if the pay gap between the corporate and academia remains huge, then it will be hard for this sector to attract people from the industry. Regular industry interaction is also crucial and more colleges should focus on this in the future. And we need organized effort from engineering institutes and the corporate to ensure that in their academic phase itself, students are exposed to more live projects to supplement their learning.            

Business organizations are getting more integrated now with open and transparent communication channels. Taking this into consideration, can you talk more about the growing importance of soft skills in the IT domain?

We often see people who know how to do their job but establishing proper business linkage is something that not always comes naturally to people. Either that could be an issue of understanding and people who are assigning those jobs should be more articulate or it could be a communication issue. And we can’t wish away the importance of quality communication because businesses are looking for people who are equally conversant with clients from different parts of the globe. That ease of communication across geographies is very important today. Therefore, it is crucial that students hone their soft skills and for that, colleges need to have a very clear curriculum which focuses on developing these skills in students.     

Online certification courses have been growing in popularity in India and at the same time, businesses have shifted their focus to the actual skills of the candidates rather than their university degree. In light of this, how do you view the ability of online certification courses in improving the skill sets of the students and making them more employable?  

I believe that online institutes help a lot and now, we have access to plethora of courses that students can choose from. There are even courses that are free of cost which was not the case earlier where there was a prohibitive cost to skill building. NASSCOM and Ministry of Electronics and Communication, Government of India through ‘FutureSkills Prime’ a skilling ecosystem is focusing on up skilling Indians. Datamatics has partnered with them and has developed a robotics program that people can complete and get certified. These opportunities were not there in the past and the online world has made it possible. And if a student is keen to learn, then these online programs definitely help. Also, today the talent demand has outweighed supply. And because of this, even if there are people who lack requisite skills but are showing a great attitude towards skill development, organizations would be keen to hire them.        

Business automation has helped organizations increase their efficiency and streamline their business operations. At the same time, this has resulted in many job positions becoming obsolete. In your opinion, what are some of the most future-proof career options students can pursue in the IT domain?

You have to be with the times constantly. To achieve that, you have to know how the trends are changing. There was a time when we used to talk about a VUCA world but now, there is another term in vogue – BANI which stands for Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear and Incomprehensible. And when the management world and industry are changing, jobs will not remain the same as well. To ensure job security in the dynamic world that we live in, it is crucial to know the new trends happening in the area that you are working in and keeping yourselves up skilled.    

Businesses have started using big-data to improve their talent acquisition process? How do you see this trend evolving and considering the increasing influence of technology in hiring, what would be your suggestion to the students to make them a more attractive option for potential employers?      

There is no substitute to hard work and it helps us to be hardened professionals who can take on any challenge. Also, to get absorbed into the industry, it is important that your CV gets shortlisted and to achieve this, your academic background plays a crucial role. You have to be good at what you do and perform well academically. This is what helps your CV get shortlisted. The different certifications that you have received will also help you to get the attention of potential employers. Equip yourself in such a way that be it any technology that is powering the talent acquisition process, your CV gets selected.