Hey everyone! Welcome to ‘The Wordless Web’! Hope that most of you are returning back to work after a long hibernation phase of fighting against COVID-19, and we still continue to fight against it. With undergraduates & graduates finding it hard to land in their dream jobs, with artists yearning to showcase their work in public forums, with parents struggling to curtail their children from going out to play games, it has been a very very tough time for all of us! Meanwhile, I have been getting many messages from junior friends and a few others asking for opinions on their various career options. While some have been asking me about opting for jobs in different companies / other options due to companies rescinding offer, some have been asking about deferring their admits for MS / M.Tech. / MBA to 2021. I have been watching learned people and experts giving their perspectives of this pandemic and their adverse impact on the education sector. I just thought of pitching in my perspective to reflect upon a few concerns that are being pitched in by students! Trust me, I am no expert :p But, this is just my perspective.
Of course, there’s an unprecedented dip in the job market in terms of revenue, intakes and production. Of course, there is a risk of graduating in the next few months. Of course, there’s a risk of not fetching our dream jobs and not being in a position to pay-off the loan. Of course, there’s a risk of commencing office work along with COVID-19 as time passes by. Of course, there’s always a fear, with our hearts beating when our parents step out to work.
But, you know what? Assume that one of your near and dear friends got stuck inside a building caught with fire. If he / she isn’t saved in the next few minutes, you might have to face the adverse consequence – death of your beloved soul. What would you do? Obviously, anyone in that position (be it you or me) would put our life at risk to save his / her life, no matter what. Assume that a wave similar to Tsunami, which has, in history, taken away a multitude of lives is chasing you. What would you do? Obviously, you would run for your life irrespective of how athletic you are. What do these incidents reflect upon?
In the struggle for survival, the fittest win through because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment!
Charles robert darwin
The Darwinian theory – ‘Survival of the fittest’ remains true in all cases till the Homosapiens exist in the universe. This is true from the fact that we stood the test of time, and the Neanderthals didn’t. If you want to be triumphant, learn the art of survival by becoming fitter ‘mentally’.
“Impossible is a word found only in the dictionary of fools…”
Alexander, the great
Having talked about being mentally prepared to face the pandemic, it is indispensable to have plans sketched out to venture into the ‘next big thing’ in life! You guys are far more brainy than me, and I needn’t teach / sketch you anything. This is just my take on the current situation:
I’ve been talking to a few juniors, whose plans to commence Master’s in Fall’20 are currently in a state of uncertainty. There are PhD guys, who have been advised to start their literature study remotely during the Fall, and begin their preliminary work before reaching their university possibly in Spring’21. With a slight difficulty in fetching jobs in India currently, I have been asking them to take up summer internship for now, look into how the situation is, a month from now, and then take a call of either traveling abroad / extending their role of a summer intern to a project assistant. I know that you guys wanted to ease out during the last few months of your stay in India – I too did the same last year. But, in this unprecedented situation, it’s imperative to adapt yourselves to this current scenario. With a slight effort now, you’re bound to reap dividends – a few years from now.
There are various research institutions currently giving remote summer internships to students, both in India and abroad.
The grit and determination that some students, who lost a golden opportunity to pursue their internships abroad via DAAD/MITACS/Viterbi/NTU India Connect/SN BOSE showed to fetch another international remote internship stands as a testament to the same. Why not draw inspiration from our juniors? Why not team up with friends with like-minded interests and approach the professors in well established research institutions to pursue a group project? Why not collaborate with each other to search for professors accepting students to work as an intern now, and share it with your peers? Why not convert your Bachelor’s thesis into a publication? Why not approach alumni working as researchers in eminent institutions to work as an intern under them? Why not invest money in Nanodegrees, Cloud Platforms, high-rated courses on Coursera etc. and get hold of good certificates? Trust me – NPTEL is an awesome resource which has been helping me & my friends even in our Master’s. Do consider taking up a course on NPTEL as well. I would always recommend taking up instructor-led research work or courses over individual study, as the learning that you gain from an experienced person during your discussions is unparalleled. The expertise that you gain via company / research experience play a vital role in fetching your dream job after your Master’s.
Irrespective of your domain being hardware (or) software:
With the advent of AWS, Google Cloud, Circuit & Mechanical Simulators etc., the world is in one’s hands, and remote work is very much possible. Remote experience has been a blessing in disguise for many of them to learn more and make use of the time diligently.
To the people who are trying for jobs,
Let me give you an example of one of my very close friends. He had his offer rescinded in a top software company. He put his heart and soul in searching for jobs by improving his technical skills, and with better networking. With consistent efforts, he was able to land up in another job in a famous software company in a span of just 3 weeks. This example is to reinstate the fact that ‘quality’ is always the topmost priority, irrespective of the state of job market!
To the freshmen/sophomore/juniors..,
It is the right time to hone your technical skill-sets and take important decisions in your life. I am one among the multitude of people who chose a domain without knowing about its job prospects. I strongly advocate the fact that you must always strike a right balance between the domain that you’re interested in & the opportunities that you get in your domain. I struggled a lot personally due to this. If you’re confused on choosing one between placements or highers, I would suggest you to have a look at my previous article a year ago, where I’ve given my perspective, and also about my ‘failed decisions’ while opting on highers vs placements after B.Tech. : https://medium.com/datadriveninvestor/placements-vs-higher-studies-a-personal-take-on-career-choices-f5aa3282bb47
“When the going gets tough, the tough (tougher people) get going…”
As a concluding note, I am a staunch believer of the fact that ‘you’ are the only expert who is entitled to take any decision in your life; be it ‘good’ or ‘bad’. You are most welcome to ask opinions from your well-wishers to validate your decisions; but don’t make them your ‘decision-makers’. Just stick to the decision no matter what, and work hard to relish your dreams as we’ve been taught by COVID-19 that it is not the strongest / the most intelligent that survive, but the one who is the most responsive to the constantly evolving world!
Good luck with your future, and I wish you nothing but the best for your future endeavours 🙂
The Wordless Web 