IT, first choice of engineering, MBA grads

MUMBAI, INDIA: IT sector continues to be the number one choice of engineering and management students, a latest survey carried out among the students in Pune has indicated.

The survey on 'Career Choices of Management and Engineering Students in Pune', carried out by Forbes Marshall and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)-western region, said compensation was not the key factor motivating people to choose IT careers.

More significant factors that influence people to choose IT career were the opportunity to grow, challenging working environment, opportunities for creativity and innovation, said the survey, which was released July 28.

Naushad Forbes, deputy chairman of CII-WR and director of Forbes Marshall, said: 'There is dire need to correct the perception that non-IT companies cannot or do not provide opportunities for career growth, learning, creativity and innovation.'

'The non-IT companies need to ensure concrete actions to further address each of these factors namely opportunities for career growth, learning opportunities for professional growth, better work environment and opportunities for creativity and innovation,' he added.

Almost two-thirds of both management and engineering students said they were in favour of job mobility once in 2-3 years.

The respondents also called for greater industry-institute interaction. Student's responses indicated the existence of a significant gap between what is taught at institutes and what is needed in the industry.

S.B. Majumdar, director of Symboisis, said: 'The summer placements are hardly enough for students to get hands on experience. It is just a requisite, which we fulfil otherwise there is hardly any real time interaction. Corporates are ready to spend Rs.400,000 per professional, rather they should conduct courses to make students ready for their requirements. '

Vivek Shinde, a young IT professional said: 'I am a civil engineer but preferred to join IT field because it offers scope for growth and definitely money is also important.'

'I worked in manufacturing industry for a while but somehow growth potential was nothing compared to IT sector, after a short course in Java J2EE, I moved to IT,' said Bhumika Chawla, a mechanical engineer.

According to the survey, management students prefer financial services sector for building their careers than consumer goods sector.

'Finance, human resources and marketing are the most preferred functional areas for management students, ' according to Majumdar.

There is a significant shift in favour of the financial services sector over marketing with only 29 percent of the management students now opting for marketing jobs against 69 percent in 2001.

The survey added that production sector continues to remain the most preferred functional area for engineering students. Finance, development and research and development constitute other top preferred functional areas for the engineering students.

Fifty seven percent of professionals leaving non-IT companies are from the manufacturing sector, engineering process or auto sector of which 35 percent are from engineering companies alone.

The largest number of respondents who have left non-IT companies to join IT by qualification are mechanical engineers.

'While this survey unravels the factors that make a workplace 'attractive' today, the findings are much the same as during the first survey carried out in 2001,' Forbes said.

'The news is that not much has changed over seven years! Yes, salaries and salary expectations have gone up significantly but compensation is still not the most important job factor for students and professionals alike and a majority of the students continue to prefer IT and services over manufacturing,' he added.

Source: India PR Wire