You must have asked yourself this question a lot of times at some point or the other in your life. In India you are not judged by what you have studied but what you do after you complete your education. The society is more concerned about the job and salary you get after education and not the intellectual property you have earned.
1. Campus Placement
Already bored of studying? Then getting selected in a decent company visiting your campus seems a good option. If you don’t have any intentions of studying further, or at least immediately after B. Tech, you can opt for a job. This is considered to be a safer option where you get time to decide which field you want to stick to-Technical or you want to shift your core interest area from technical to management to some other stream.
2. Go for an M.Tech degree
If you studied engineering out of passion and not because you were forced by your parents or just for sake of doing it, then MTech is a good option. You can opt for the field of study you aspire to expertise in. For this, you need to prepare well for the entrance exams to get into a good college. GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) is a national exam conducted in India which can fetch you admission in IITs, IISC or NITs and many others.
3. Do an MBA
Don’t feel you are the technical guy your parents wanted you to be? Always felt like you are a manager and want to see yourself in a business suit in some MNC? Probably you have a fascination for MBA too. Don’t get diverted by the thoughts that everyone is doing an MBA right now and its value has decreased. If you want to make a career in the management sector, hold managerial positions, then MBA is the right choice. You may specialize in your area of interest which may be the all time popular fields like HR, Marketing, Sales or the new growing domains like Digital Marketing, International Relations etc. In India, there are various entrance examinations that will help you get into the top 30 MBA colleges. CAT (Common Admission Test) serves as a gateway for an MBA at the IIMs and many other leading institutes. Some other popular exams are XAT (Xaviers), NMAT, SNAP, CMAT, TISS, IRMA etc.
4. Prepare for Civil Services
Always saw yourself as an IAS or IPS officer? Admit it, some day or the other you must have thought about preparing for the Civil Services but left the thought because you felt that it's very tough to crack!
Yes. Indeed it is one of the toughest exams in the world to crack and there lies a huge competition to be a civil servant, but you cannot hold yourself back because of this. Civil Services is not just about cracking an exam and then clearing an interview, it judges you on everything you can think of, who you are and what you stand for!
You need to put your complete focus in addition to lots of determination to prepare for Civil Services Examination. For that you need to - Believe in yourself.
5. Short Term Courses
There are various short term courses and diploma courses you can opt for after your B.Tech. It can be a certificate course in embedded technology, VLSI, robotics, ethical hacking, protocol testing, machine designing etc. or a diploma course in any specific domain.
Such courses are generally job oriented and serve as a bridge between what you know and what the industry expects you to know in order to absorb you into their organization.
6. Entrepreneurship-Start your venture
Do you have dreams of being a job provider? Always wanted to be your own boss? Then starting something of your own is a great option. But before you think about it you need to be sure about your options. Startup is trending more as a fashion than a career option. Being your own boss does not mean you can ignore work and life would be easy. Starting your venture and making it succeed would be the toughest of all the things you can do. It will have ups and downs every new day. Maybe you would not get any client for the whole year. Be ready for the challenges and immense learning if you are determined to be an entrepreneur. This is the road less travelled.
7. Go Abroad
It is also a very good option to explore. If you choose to study abroad, you will get a lot of exposure and learning along with the education part. You might also be able to get a job at international locations if you have plans to settle abroad permanently in the future.
You can also explore integrated opportunities abroad. Along with options of MS you may explore options of MS+PhD and other research oriented courses. In addition, you could look at the various fellowships in research and development category available that may fascinate you too. You can also apply for the various scholarships which will fund your education partially or completely.
8. Join the army
Give a chance to the patriot in you. Joining the Army/Navy/Air Force or any other wing of the defense services can be exciting and high paying at the same time. You can join as technical staff by applying through the University Entry Scheme (UES), which requires you to apply on their respective websites or appear for the AFCAT (Air Force Common Admission Test). You can also apply for flying positions in Indian Air Force by clearing AFCAT.
The times are gone when you tagged defense services with only patriotism. Now you can be utterly professional when opting for defense as a career. These positions will give you an opportunity to live your life for the nation, a life with good facilities and a decent sum to take home as well.
9. Be a Change Maker
Feel fascinated when you see someone fighting for the rights of others? Want to bring some positive change in life of others? You can work for an NGO or start your own, you can choose a career in journalism, opt for social research or do something in your own profession itself by helping people who don’t have access to it, e.g. if you are a lawyer, fight for the rights of the less privileged; if you are a doctor, treat people; if you are an engineer, innovate for the mass etc.
10. Explore the artist in you!
In India we have a habit of not mixing our profession and our passion. But what if our passion becomes our profession?
Wouldn’t it be so amazing to do what you love rather than going the other way round of loving what you do?
It can be anything ranging from photography, painting, performing arts, astrology, writing or yoga. If you love writing, be a writer; love capturing nature and wildlife, explore your options in photography; love speaking and talking to people, Be a Radio Jockey; always found your legs move with the music, be a dancer! Let it be any other passion as well. If you can attain expertise in your passion and can earn your bread and butter with it, it’s a good way to go. At least you would never regret doing something you never liked and you would live every moment doing what you love.
So did you find something that excites you? Or maybe therein lies something beyond these for you! What matters in the end is that you are happy about what you have done & what you are doing.
Remember, if you want to worry about what people think about you or what people will think about you if you do this or that, then there is a problem! What should ideally matter is how you see yourself. Do you respect the person you are? If yes, you are on the right path!
Do share your opinions with us on what you think about the article. Also please share any other exciting career options available which we may have missed.
