Volume 10.4 – Where are we Headed?

InsIghT conducted a survey across passing out students with an aim to understand their aims and career interests after IIT. We also tried to gauge their level of satisfaction with the placement process and their opinions on some related issues.

Post December is lukkha season: Placements, Apping, CAT are more or less done and in the bag. We thought that this would be the best time to gather perspectives of the passing out batch of 2008. The goal of the survey was simple: to gauge what final year students as a whole felt about their experience in IIT. The more subtle goal is to present a view of the changes that occur through our stay here, and perhaps seek a reason as to what makes us “IITian’. The Survey was conducted across the UG batch of 2008. In total 184 B. Tech and 117 DD final year students responded to ten questions about their jobs and experiences at IIT.

Why IIT:

When asked the reasoning behind choosing IIT, two-thirds responded with ‘IIT Brand name and future prospects’. 25% said that their interest in Tech and Engineering got them here, while the remainder attributed their choice to peer or parental pressure.

“Disillusionment towards academics is present. However IIT is not solely responsible for it. JEE aspirants are responsible for what they are getting into and if one comes in lured by the future ‘prospects’ alone, one should not crib.”

Before and after IIT:

(Graph 1) 43% of the respondents came in wishing for a dream job post their degree. Around 28% wished to pursue future studies while only 13% wished for an MBA. Post four years at IIT while the trend doesn’t change the numbers certainly do. (Graph 2) Given a choice now, 57% of IITians would take up a job, while only 20% still wish to pursue foreign studies. The MBA appears as a strong second choice among students with around 30% opting for that as a second choice. The underlying trend here seems to be that if one cannot get a job then the MBA is the next best thing to do. One more fact to note is that more people wish to take up non-tech jobs as compared to tech jobs, by over 12%.

However, reality doesn’t always match our expectations and (Graph 3) currently 68% of the students are taking up jobs (Equal tech and non-tech). Only 18% are actually pursuing an MS-PhD, down by around 10% from when they entered as freshies.

A well ‘placed’ opinion:

On being asked what a potential employer looks for in a potential hire (Graph 4), an overwhelming 46% said that CPI is the most important criteria. 22% said that communication skills are then the most important followed by preparation accounting for 12%. A most startling fact was that extra-curricular activities were accorded importance by only 2% of students. Organisational skills were accorded much more preference than internships and projects, another revealing fact into the prevailing mindset.

Around 80% of students were placed at the time of the survey. Of these 25% are not happy with the job they have. The main reasons seem to be unsatisfactory job profiles and remuneration, which account for nearly all the dissatisfaction. Location and reputation does not seem to worry the IITian much.

“My interest shifted from physics to mathin my final year. Though this is mainly due to intrinsic differences between physics and maths, my peers and my department have also contributed.” -Final Year EP student

On the question of role models 35% said that seniors with great job offers were their role models. Surprisingly though around 25% of students said that their parents were their role models and guides, with very few according any importance to the peer group.

What you wanted and what you got:

Finally we wished to compare what people expected to gain out of IIT and what they actually felt they got after their stay here. Around 40% said that they came here to get good technical skills and 35% said they came here for the tag. However, only 25% say that they have gained sound technical competence at IIT. What people value the most is the strong peer network at 30%, which has doubled from the initial expectation of 15% of the students as freshies. Another 25% say that what they gained the most are strong social skills.

What the survey revealed:

So what do we interpret from these results? Firstly, freshies are not a lost cause. There are a majority who do come in for technical skills and value the IIT tag. And while the desire for a job is high from the start, what is surprising is that there is a stronger preference for a non-tech job over a technical one. There is repulsion from technical pursuits, with the small number of MS-PhD aspirants dropping by a third by the end of four years, and people shifting to MBA, and non-tech jobs. Another thing to note is that most seem to be happy following the beaten path, with very few wishing to start up on their own. Of course, it might be that the entrepreneurial spirit would be checked for some time until some experience is got, and more importantly, till one can get some financial backing.

Another thing to note is that the emphasis on organizational skills is markedly low (something that freshies and sophies should make a note of). Conversely, a majority seems to recognize the importance of CPI. Communication and social skills gain more importance here. The sad thing is that this comes at the expense of extra-curricular activities.

RIGHT FROM THE HEART

“I think only those pople can take full advantage of IIT who have had good guidance in the form of good peers or a strong background in an excellent school. You find the same bunch of people participating everywhere. Only those who are talented are given a chance, there is literally nothing to help someone hone his/her skills in IIT. The second point is that those who need good guidance are ignored. The mentorship program is really badly managed. There was no one to tell us in the freshie year what is required for the path one wants to pursue. We were left to interpret and draw conclusions by ourselves. One comes to this realisation during the placement season and then it’s too late. The point I want to bring home is that the system should not such that we repent after four years but have a better planned tenure at IIT. This is only possible under good mentorship and counselling.” – Abhinav Dudi (Final Year Aerospace Student)

What you told us:

Some of the responses we received were quite varied. Aims on entering IIT diverged from ‘Starting an educational institute’ to ‘Getting a girlfriend’. A lot of students expected to gain a personality when they entered as freshies. Some of the more interesting career choices included social service, writing and even a music director!

Many responses were about the inadequacy of the mentorship programme with many people feeling that they had not been guided properly. “They (freshies) should be told about how the decisions they make during their three years greatly influence what happens in the fourth- extracurrics/organizational/acads – an honest appraisal of the key factors that come into play in apping/recruitments should be provided to them.”

Some also felt that that due importance should be given to CPI and academic performance. On the other hand people felt that had the curriculum been more flexible, it would have retained their interest in academics. A physics student wrote, “My interest shifted from physics to math in my final year. Though this is mainly due to intrinsic differences between physics and maths, my peers and my department have also contributed.” There was discontent with the placements as well, with many stating that the schedule of companies ended up determining their jobs rather than personal choice. Sometimes this caused people to take up non-tech jobs even though they would not have minded/preferred a tech job. Said a student, “Cracking a job is also like a lottery, when it’s your day it’s your day. So there’s no perfect formula”.

While some have been optimistic and said “IIT is a great place to live: every place can be improved though!” some have also questioned students lack of responsibility. “Disillusionment towards academics is present. However IIT is not solely responsible for it. JEE aspirants are responsible for what they are getting into and if one comes in lured by the future ‘prospects’ alone, one should not crib.”

RIGHT FROM THE HEART

“In the absence of world class educational institutes in other fields in India, IIT becomes a default option for most including myself. What I’ve learnt from my four years here is that engineering isn’t for me, that I have overstayed my visit to a mistaken destination, and now I want to leave.”

And Finally

InsIghT would like to thank all the students who took the time to fill the survey and tell us their opinions. While we agree that the survey was limited, it is hoped that this endeavor would spark some more activity and thought from students in order to achieve a more fruitful stay at IIT Bombay.

(Arunabh Sinha and Rajlakshmi Purkayastha are final-year students of the MEMS Department)