Get Industry Ready

Get industry ready

In the current environment, the knowledge and skill sets of fresh engineering graduates need to be fine-tuned / honed for effective and better employability. This will help the candidates and the industry as well.

In this post, we will discuss some selective ways and means that the fresh engineers can use to make them industry ready and improve their employability.

Environment.

The industrial environment is totally different from the college environment. The college environment, usually, is protective in nature whereas for a fresh new entrant, the industrial environment is normally challenging with almost no protection. During initial days it is extremely difficult to get identified and supported by the right mentor. So, be prepared to face and tackle the situation.

What next.

After graduation, normally one can choose between employment and entrepreneurship. In case of employment, the preference can be either our country or overseas. The choice in employment or entrepreneurship can be either in manufacturing or service sector. The different major industries that provide scope of employment / entrepreneurship are:

·         Automobile

·         Banking

·         Cement

·         Construction

·         Chemical

·         Engineering

·         Education

·         Food

·         Finance

·         Healthcare – gym, hospital, rehabilitation, etc

·         Hotel

·         Infrastructure

·         Information technology

·         Insurance

·         Iron & steel

·         Pharmaceutical

·         Retail

·         Tours and travels

In this post, we will discuss only about employability and not entrepreneurship. Once you decide which industry you want to get into, you must prepare yourself to get employed.

Strengthen your basics.

Expertise on fundamental principles is very low or absent in many cases. I am not exaggerating. How many mechanical engineering graduates will be able to give the correct technical specification of  low end machines like lathe, shaping machine or power hacksaw? How many electrical engineering graduates will be able to draw the circuit of automatic start delta starter without referring a book? You should not be the one among them. Superficial knowledge is not going to help anyone. Prepare yourself a ‘notebook of fundamentals’ and let be your Bible. Keep reading it so that you remain strong on fundamentals.

Brush up your practical skills

Whatever projects you undertake during your course, take them very seriously. Do it yourself. That will enhance your understanding, improve your analytical and problem-solving abilities. Get closer to the instructors during your practical sessions. Learn from them as they possess valuable practical knowledge, which may not be available in your text books. You should add one more note book of ‘practical valuables’.

Learn human skills.

You must have a combination of three different skills viz. technical, human, and conceptual in different proportion. The skill which needs to be predominant, will be decided by your position. Study the picture below.

                 

Due to your qualification, you will be joining the band of middle management as a manager or an engineer. For you to succeed, human skill is of prime importance. But you cannot lag behind in technical skills. Technical skill is the foundation on which you will stand firmly. By virtue of your position, you will be dealing more with humans. So, try to master interpersonal skills.

You will be interacting with peoples at three levels: people of your level, people above your level (by hierarchy), and people below your level (by hierarchy). You must develop skills to maintain cordial relationship with all these three levels of people. To achieve this, you must also gain good communication skills.

Study your industry.

Since you have decided the industry to get into, start studying that industry. With the advent of internet, the resources available are unlimited. Study them carefully and try to understand the big picture. Try to work out the contribution which you can make to the industry and start preparing appropriate strategy for the same. Study the technology update for that industry and be prepared to go with it. Education never stops with graduation. Become a tech-savvy.

Develop your legal knowledge.

All businesses exist in a legal environment. There are specific laws applicable to specific industry. The decisions and actions of the industry will be bound by the applicable laws. You will get confused and may not understand those if you do not possess the required knowledge. So, once you decide the industry to get in, find out the laws applicable to that industry and their implications. This will help you to understand the big picture and put things in right perspective.

Conduct personal SWOT analysis.

Conduct a personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis by asking a series of questions.

 

Bank on your strengths. Identify opportunities to address your weaknesses and threats. Project your strengths in job interviews to increase your employability.

Become a good team player.

Your credentials are the outcome of your individual effort and that is commendable. That is your entry pass for the industry. But when you work for an organization, though your individual achievement is important, what is crucial is your contribution as a team player. I know one person who is an excellent engineer but a worst team player. Because of this short come, he could not make a successful career. Develop your skills as a good team player. Think of M.S. Dhoni and his contribution to Indian cricket as a team member.

Develop good personal traits.

To become successful and to sustain it, develop good and genuine personal traits.

·         Don’t try to create an impression that you know it all.

·         Be sincere and honest.

·         Respect elders and their experience.

·         Take the initiative in building relationships.

·         Be open minded.

·         Be quick to admit your mistakes.

·         Be confident and don’t hesitate to admit if you don’t know things.

Be present in social media.

From social media you can get all the relevant information about the industry you want to make your career and the important personalities in that field. Don not use the social media for time pass. Identify a great personality of your choice and follow him closely to get benefited. Many a times you will be lucky enough to understand a bigger picture through him. There are number of groups present in media like whatsApp, telegram, etc which cater to specific needs. There are also forums of different categories exist, which you should make use of.

To sum up:

·         Decide which industry you want to get into.

·         Strengthen your basics.

·         Strengthen your technical skills.

·         Strengthen your human skills. Take special care of interpersonal relationship and communication.

·         Study your industry.

·         Develop your legal knowledge.

·         Conduct your personal SWOT analysis.

·         Become a good team player.

·         Develop good personal traits.