Why The Majority of Students in India Seek A Career in Engineering?

Posted by Rajeev Dixit on November 3rd, 2017

Engineering or B. Tech is today unquestionably the most sought after study and career option in India. An increasing number of students are getting attracted towards the engineering field and seeking admission into various B. Tech programs every year in many government and private engineering colleges around the country. Whether you look at the B. Tech colleges in Delhi NCR or the top BTech college in India as a whole, the enrollment rate in engineering courses is much higher in comparison to other courses. So, the question arises that why the majority of students in India embrace engineering as a study and career option. Let’s try to find out the reasons behind it.

India is a rapidly growing economy; hence, it requires a large number of capable engineers to execute its development plans. As per a report published by the Press Trust of India (PTI), the nations with growing economies attract a large number of students towards the engineering profession. Since there is a huge demand for engineers in India, the engineering graduates receive impressive job offers.

There is good demand for capable engineers in foreign nations as well like in the US, UK, and Germany, among various other countries. The deserving candidates obtain good job offers in reputable MNCs and they are offered impressive salary packages, along with several benefits and perks. The craze for working in the first-world countries is also high among the Indian B. Tech students because such countries offer a high quality lifestyle in comparison to India.

Engineering, being a versatile field, offers a myriad of different roles in the technical field. To cite an example, a Computer Science engineering graduate may become a software engineer, or web developer, or network engineer, or IT manager, or IT consultant, or take on many other varied job roles, depending upon his caliber, interest, and specialization. So, the window to switch careers remains open as there are many related fields in B. Tech; this is a great advantage over most other career fields which are quite rigid and provide limited to no scope for switching job roles.

If a person has completed his B. Tech studies from a reputable institution and has consistently performed well, then his chances of getting campus placement are fairly bright. There are many large organizations such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, etc., that won’t mind paying a huge pay packet to a young engineering graduate, even in domestic hiring, provided the candidate proves his worth in the interview. The high amounting pay packages that a fresher may get in the engineering field are hard to obtain by any other professional in the initial stages.

The option of government jobs is also open for engineering graduates in India. The majority of government sector employments for engineers in India are in BHEL, NTPC, GAIL, SAIL, IGL, IOCL, DMRC, NHAI, CPWD, Indian Railways, ISRO, DRDO, and in Defense, among others. The salaries are quite decent, especially after the implementation of the 7th pay commission, plus there are additional benefits and facilities offered to the engineers in government jobs in India. The government sector jobs offer a decent, comfortable, relaxed, and respectful lifestyle, devoid of undue stress.

Then, there is the self-employment option for those who do not prefer a conventional job. If a candidate performs well here, then he can generate substantial wealth in a relatively short period of time. There is no dearth of successful startup examples in India such as Snapdeal, Flipkart, Myntra, Ola Cabs, etc. All these startups have an engineering graduate as a founder. This serves as a strong motivating factor for the young B. Tech aspirants.

An engineer is usually involved in doing important jobs that have a visible effect on the development of the society. Such work naturally provides satisfaction to the engineers. What’s more, they are even paid a handsome amount for their work. High income and high job-satisfaction is a rare combination, which is difficult to be found in other fields. Also, engineers get high respect and regard in the Indian society due to their profession, which is a big motivation.

The above discussion has brought out the primary reasons behind the widespread popularity of engineering as a study and career field in India. A strong indicator of this growing demand for B. Tech in India is the substantial rise in the total number of Btech college in India over the past decade. But not all these colleges are equally good in the level of education and placements. So, you must choose a B. Tech college only after proper research and enquiry.