10 Most Useful Skills for Employability of Engineering Students
Congratulations! You Have Won a Battle. But There’s Still One More To Go.
Preparing for the engineering exams and passing them with flying colours is indeed a battle-like experience for the students. They burn the midnight oil for months to fare outstandingly well in their exams. But right after the grueling session even before they get over the exhaustion of the exam preparations, they feel the pressure of finding a job in a company of their choice.
To make this process less painful and more successful it is necessary for engineering students to develop the following set of skills. A student with these skills will be a more favorable choice for the employers than someone without them.
The following points are helpful for acquiring a job easily in the competitive market.
1) Good Grades: It is the highlight of your resume. Good scores always give you an edge over your peers or other candidates. It is the age of smart devices and smart technology. So why not apply smartness even in studying methods? Visual learning is comparatively less time consuming and helps in greater retention power. Audio-video learning has more impact on a student mind than traditional way of studying from books. There are many e-learning apps available which can easily help you to cover the endless syllabus in much lesser time. However, remember that you choose your visual learning options wisely, depending upon their authenticity or correctness of information.
2) Self Assessment: In order to check your flaws it is necessary to detect them. So, identify your weaknesses and strengths too. Work on your weak points and even harder on your strengths which can overshadow your flaws. While facing an interview, the interviewers love to ask, “Introduce yourself”. Be smart to point out the qualities that set you apart from others. Take this opportunity to impress them and bag the job.
3) Knowledge of the Basic Concepts: The foundation of any subject depends on its fundamental concepts. And if they are not clear or known to you, the interviewers will doubt your knowledge in the subject. So before it’s too late brush up the basic concepts of your specialization and convince the employers that you follow the correct approach of learning.
4) Self Confidence: Being under-confident is as bad as being overconfident. Keep a check on your confidence level. If you lack it, tell yourself that you are unique in your own way, focus on the positive sides and practice talking to yourself in the mirror and also with other people who are not so familiar to you. Motivate yourself everyday and keep negativity at bay.
5) Practical Experience: Theoretical knowledge is not enough to impress employers. If there is a choice between someone who has attended seminars, participated in workshops, done internships or part-time jobs on weekends and you who has only good scores to flash in the resume, be least assured that the former candidate will bag the job. So to avoid such disappointing decisions by the employers equip yourself with a practical training or a project or an invention. Add a spark to your resume.
6) Updated Technical Knowledge: Technologies keep pace with time and keep changing. So you too must. Be an avid reader of blogs, journals, magazines, articles and anything you can lay your hands or eyes on. Apart from gathering latest information on your area of specialization, read other interdisciplinary articles as well. A well read candidate is always more preferable.
7) Soft Skills: A student’s life is poles apart from a professional’s life. You may be geared with all knowledge, good grades but to thrive in an office ambiance among other professionals, some soft skills are mandatory. They include problem solving skills, team player qualities, adaptive and positive nature, leadership skills, time management skills and flexibility. To facilitate growth prospects the effort must be focused on teamwork and healthy work environment. There are many soft skills development programs offered by private institutes. Join any of them to strengthen the professional personality in you.
8) Communication Skills: A high percentage of engineering students get lost or trapped in the labyrinth of words. To express yourself and explain what you are capable of you need words. To convince the employer of your worth you need words. But what if words fail you? Improve your writing and spoken english skills by talking regularly in english with someone who knows the language well, watching english movies and serials, reading newspapers and stories.
9) Network Development: It is the social networking age, so create your network. Keep in touch with your batch mates, seniors and professors to receive news on employment opportunities. Also create accounts in LinkedIn site to get updates on recent job openings and for an exposure to the companies’ important people.
10) Know Where & How to Apply: Lastly you must know which job portals are the most searched by companies. Create your profiles in the leading job portals and update your resume there. Keep checking for job openings in the websites of your dream companies. Make sure you have entered the correct e-mail id and contact number in your resume for the employers to reach you.
Keep your calm and believe in yourself. Securing a job isn’t difficult if you have the will to succeed. Best of luck for your career.
