With college admissions underway, students often get confused about which course to opt for. DEEPA SAYAL shares tips that may help them to choose the right option

As college admissions are underway especially for private institutes. Students have already filled forms for admission to Delhi University. It is normal for students to get bogged down with vexing questions as to which course to choose and how to build a lasting career. Here is some help.

For those coming from a Science background, there are a myriad of promising career avenues to choose from. The adoption and innovation of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), and Robotics are increasing impressively high, especially now when the underlying potential of these techs is unlocked. From software development to robotics engineering, diverse industries call for scientific knowledge and technical skills to register double-digit growth. In fact, Indian Engineering Research and Development (ER&D) is also expected to double to $42 billion by FY 2022. Therefore, the students setting an eye on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) jobs will hit the nail right. 

The STEM as the industry is contained with a pool of education and career prospects because the world is moving towards data-driven decision-making. From marketing managers to financial analysts, from executives to C-suite, expertise in data and computation is more of a necessity than merely a choice.

The NASSCOM predicts that nearly 65 per cent of four million jobs in IT are going to change over the next five years. With it, skills and talent in demand will also change. In the present case scenario, most of the highly-paid jobs require an engineering or tech degree as well as digital engineering skills at the least.

Lately, AI has emerged as one of the most interactive fields of the study. It is the technology that keeps on bestowing us with smart and intelligent creations that makes our life a lot easier. Whether it is Siri or Netflix, these AI powered software help us type message without using fingers, turn on the lights at home, and even discover new shows and movies that are a delight to our eyes. As businesses strive to offer us more convenience through AI technologies, the field is going to expand creating over 2.3 million jobs by 2020, as Gartner estimates.

To work in this domain, students should have a BTech degree in computer science, artificial intelligence, machine learning and a postgraduate degree or diploma.

There are many institutes like  SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Delhi-NCR and Manav Rachna University (MRU) that have started offering these courses from this new academic year.

The mightiest of tech advancements are born out of small bit-sized information, otherwise called data. The present is futuristic age where even a human gene is a source of the pertinent data and information and can open a whole new world to us. The organisations understand the real value of this data as it allows them to innovate and serve the customers through a result-driven approach. For example, a brand can introduce a new product line that fulfils the requirements of the customers, on the basis of their previously shown behaviour. But, the world produces an infinite amount of raw and unstructured data the value of which is insurmountable for businesses, government bodies, and scientists.

To derive insights from the complex data, there is an urgent need for data scientists, data analysts, data engineers, and data managers. The job market for data science jobs has witnessed a hike of nearly 76 per cent in India, according to UpGrad Analytics and Data Job Survey 2018. The average salary of a data scientist ranges from 4-6 lakh at an entry level. The candidates should have a BTech or BSc degree in computer science as well as should be thorough with programming languages such as Perl, Java, and Python. An equivalent degree or certification in business analytics, data analytics, and data science strengthen one’s educational background. 

The digital transformation continues to revamp the business landscape where almost every stakeholder, data, and information is vulnerable to cyber security threats. The antidote to cyber security risk is ethical hacking, which is going to be the game changer in future.

An ethical hacker is responsible for building and protecting the company’s security system and network against any weakness, fault, and cyber attack. For this, BTech in computer science will be a brownie point for those looking to become ethical hackers. If not, courses in Certified Ethical Hacking (CEH), Certified Security Analyst, and Computer Hacking Forensic Investigation suffice to build a secure future in the domain.

The writer is Executive Director, Vivoki & Director-Co-Founder, ADG Online Solutions