What is the single most important dream of a student taking admission in an engineering college? It is to have a job in hand by the time his/her degree is completed. Almost 99% of students studying in over 4000 engineering colleges think like that.
The question which I want to raise here is, is being an engineer only about working in a dead end IT company after the completion of four years. Of course not, this institution was developed to learn about the details and intricacies of science. But the way people have perceived it over the past decade, engineering is now all about a degree which gets you a job, that’s it.
4 students from IIT Kanpur have redefined whatever I have said till now.
About a week ago, all four of them refused a pay check of a whopping Rs. 1 crore from companies which came for campus placements. The basic reason why they did that was very clear, they were not studying just to earn money. Two of them didn’t accept the offer because they didn’t like the profile of the company. They preferred opting for jobs which were offering lower salaries as they saw a better professional fulfilment in smaller companies. The other two were looking to go for higher studies, sharpen their skills even more, and then enter the professional world.
Every 8 lakh student studying in engineering colleges should take a leaf or two out of this story. Those 4 students rejected such humungous packages, and opted not to get their names included in the pages of history for a reason. You have to question yourself that, ‘why am I so eager to get into the first company which visits my college. Is this the final destination?’ I know every college is not of the ranks of IITs but that does not mean there is no scope of growth at all.
I am completely aware of the fact that majority of the students studying in engineering colleges are not there by will. They are there because either their parents wanted them to join or they were not clear about which direction they should move in so they just followed the crowd.
Instead of sitting with your friends on hostel terrace and discussing what you really wanted to be, you should go ahead and do something about it. Ending up in a lame engineering college is not the end of everything. You can still work your way out of it if you really want to bring a change in the way your life is moving. Why do you see TCS and Infosys as your dream company, where you will find no application of whatever you have studied in those 4 years of engineering? These companies pick students like sheep and cattle from every college they visit. You started your journey by being a part of the crowd and you will end up your college by being a part of the crowd.
You have to believe in the fact that it’s never too late. What you need to realize is that getting stuck in a dead end IT job is not the way to go about it. Those 4 IIT students didn’t get deviated by such a huge catch of Rs. 1 crore then why do you want to fall for that 3.5 lakh salary which companies are ready to give you. If you have been a mechanical student for the 4 most crucial years of your life then why do you want to follow it up with 20 years of work experience in a software company? Instead work in the field which you have specialized in, even if it is a low paying job, you will reap benefits someday or the other.
It’s a story of hope for all those who want to become entrepreneurs and become job creators rather than job takers. It is all about following your heart. Though there is pressure from parents to get a decent job by the time you finish your four years, you cannot give up your own dreams. Money and package is not all what you should crave for, there is something called job satisfaction as well. That is the message which those 4 IIT Kanpur students have sent out indirectly to every student of an engineering college.
