Before training students for placements, we conduct diagnostic tests to understand strengths and weaknesses, says HOD

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, MCA Programme Head at School of Computer Science MIT WPU - World Peace University, Pune Dr C H Patil talks in detail about their updated curriculum that aims at keeping students at par with the current industry standards. He also elaborates about initiatives taken to make students job-ready and ensure they are provided with quality placements. Institute conducts a diagnostic test to do a SWOT analysis of every student so that they can focus on every student individually, organises regular workshops, seminars facilitated by industry experts, mock interview and group discussion sessions to help them boost their confidence.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the three things that MIT World Peace University is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from other universities?

A: MIT WPU aims at imparting quality education to the students which can be achieved if the curriculum is updated and is delivered in the right manner. An ideal curriculum architecture is a perfect blend of both theoretical and practical sessions. Three things that differentiate us from other universities of similar race are:

• Curriculum that is designed in collaboration with the industry experts and its delivery is the core responsibility of well-qualified faculty members who have prior industrial experience. Apart from this, we encourage students to participate in Hackathons and mini-projects to groom their technical skills. A six-month internship programme is mandatory for every student as it’s a part of the curriculum and they are expected to submit a detailed research report based on their internship experience. Our curriculum also includes National Study Tours for practical exposure to the corporate world
• Peace and Yoga sessions as a part of the curriculum that help students to maintain their spiritual health. Through these subjects, students become aware of the ethics, aspects, and evolution of human life.
• Rural Immersion Programme that helps students to experience rural life and understand their social responsibilities

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by MIT World Peace University that are helping your students become industry-ready?

A: Industry readiness and quality placements are both directly proportional to each other. We focus on each and every student and aim at making them industry-ready so they can secure quality placements for themselves. Our aim is to see students succeed and to drive this objective:

• MIT WPU has signed MoUs with various companies such as Amdocs, Xpansion, Barclays, Tata, Simens and Intelliment, to bridge the gap between the industry and academia. Also, we have tie-ups with academia such as Vinsys, CDAC, Informatics, These institutions help us and our students to synchronise and be upgraded as per the industry requirements.
• Research-based learning is a unique feature of our University. The platform of Hackathon helps students to showcase their talent in the field of IT. The MIT WPU gives more emphasis on Hackathon and motivates students to participate in these competitions.
• Intending to make the students capable to have their own startup, MITWPU has established the Incubation C. Many students having the potential to be entrepreneurs get the opportunity to utilise the infrastructural platform for their setups. They are inspired to generate their business ideas and the initial support required for implementing these ideas is provided by MIT WPU.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for the institute and score good grades?

A: To Qualify for MIT WPU, a student must have a minimum qualification as per the eligibility and skills acquired during curriculum should be adequate

And, to score good grades in MIT WPU, the student should possess qualities such as attentiveness, proactiveness of candidate, ability to adopt the technological, peace and other related skills

Q: What are you doing to improve/ drive better campus placements for your current students and alumni? What kind of jobs routinely come to campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (observed over the past five years)?

A: Campus placement is a combined result of the inputs given to students on academics & employability-enhancement, strong industry-connect. In these areas, MIT World Peace University holds a key to excellent placements and gives its students the best possible career opportunities. To enhance the quality of placements, the following are the initiatives undertaken by us:

1. Conducting diagnostic tests to understand the strengths and weaknesses of students and accordingly, planning for their training
2. Counselling, guiding sessions through pre-placement training
3. Taking industry feedback after every placement process
4. Monitoring students' performance in recruitment processes
5. Supporting alumni even after they pass-out till they get at least one job offer
6. Good connect with alumni and industry
7. Interactions between current students and alumni
8. Monitoring progress of internships through faculty mentors
9. Providing plenty of job opportunities to students
10. Inputs from Industry experts in designing course syllabus and making it industry-oriented
11. Making students aware of various other career avenues than campus placements

Most of the prominent jobs roles provided are in the fields on IT/Software development, testing, consulting, ITES, IT infra management, IT sales & marketing, data analysis, etc.

Some of the prominent trends witnessed for the past some time are that recruiters are actively looking for the readily-deployable workforce so as to reduce the time required for their training. A large share of companies also looks for students well-versed with latest technologies.