What after BTech? Know your options

By Ankit Goyal

Generally, during our graduation days, we live in a small shell where everything is comfortable and we do not worry about our future. But once we enter the third year of BTech, it’s important to be aware of the choices that we are or we will be making for our future. For that correct choice, we must be aware of all the choices available to us after graduation as this would lead us to a better future. In this article, let’s talk about the opportunities are available for BTech graduates.

GATE

GATE is an exam which is based on what you study in your BTech curriculum. The exam opens the door to various opportunities such as PSU and post-graduation courses such as MS and MTech. There are many opportunities which are generally left unexplored through GATE such as FPM program offered by IIMs in India. This Doctoral Program in Management offers various job opportunities along with a handsome stipend. Also, GATE can enable you to pursue MS from various foreign universities such as National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). There are a plethora of opportunities after GATE.

Those students who have sound technical background should definitely appear for GATE as this exam is mostly based on technical knowledge but if engineering curriculum does not interest you much then this exam may not be for you. But still this is worth considering since there are many exams which are based on similar pattern as GATE and you can end up with a competitive package after any of these exams.

ESE

Engineering Services Exam has a similar course curriculum as GATE but it also has a non-technical exam which GATE does not have. This exam is for those who aspire to land government jobs in sectors such as Defence, PWD, Railways etc. But the recruitment process involves three steps and hence is a bit hectic. To go through ESE you have to first clear written objective exam, then written conventional paper and if you qualify both stages then you have to appear for Personality Test. As per my personal opinion. I do not recommend students in final year to go for ESE because preparing simultaneously technical and non-technical may be very hectic for any college student or even a working professional. You can prepare for GATE and ESE simultaneously if you have some background in technical exams or your technical portion is somewhat ready so that you can brush up those concepts alongside preparing non-technical for ESE.

PSU

There are many organizations conducting their independent written exams such as CIL conducted this year and ISRO and BARC conduct every year. The exams are based on a pattern which is very similar to GATE and ESE and hence preparing for these exams do have many side benefits. These industries recruit through written exam and then an interview.

CAT/XAT

These two exams are the most famous ones to get into a management programme offered by a reputed college. CAT is mostly famous because of some of the top colleges like IIMs, IITs, SP Jain Institute, FPM etc accepts the exam scores. XAT is an entrance test for admission into XLRI.

CAT is a 3 hour online exam consisting of 100 questions and colleges recruit using percentile in CAT and then conducting a counselling cum interview session. But remember you have to have a very high percentile to get into top colleges as well as your academic background must be strong. These colleges do take into consideration your 10^th and 12^th percentage as well as B.Tech percentage or pointer.

This exam is recommended for those who do not have much interest in pursuing technical jobs and wish to get into Finance, Banking, Data Analytics jobs but mind you these exams need a strong hold on numerical and verbal ability. So, do ask yourself at least once that can you handle tough aptitude questions and if yes then this is meant for you.

Also, learning aptitude will do you no harm as it will also help in Campus Placements.

GRE/IELTS

These two exams are conducted for admission into foreign universities for MS program. These exams are mostly conducted to test your proficiency in English Language. There are two major sections in these exams i.e. Aptitude and English. The aptitude section is comparatively simple as compared to CAT but in English you need to memorize a lot of dictionary words. Once you have a valid GRE score then you can apply to different universities along with Statement of Purpose (SOP). These universities will verify your academic background along with valid GRE score before taking admission. If you are academically excellent then you can also be eligible for scholarship to cover your basic expenses.

Private Companies

There are many exams which are specifically conducted for entry into private sector companies such as e-litmus and AMCAT. These exams are based on knowledge of Aptitude and English. You can expect a package of 4-8lacs after clearing these exams but there is no guarantee of job as all these exams can get you a job if there are jobs available in market. So, this is comparatively a risky option as compared to other options I have explained above. But again a good command in Aptitude can open many doors for you so there is no harm in appearing for these exams.

Campus Recruitment

This option is for those which belong to a reputed college where top companies visit for recruitment. You can prepare for Campus Placement by preparing for Numerical Aptitude and Reasoning. Also, have a resume ready because these companies will interview you on the basis of what you have written in your resume. So, do not write anything fake just to impress because they can cross question you on the lines of whatever you have mentioned in your resume. Also, you need to have good knowledge of what you did in your B.Tech project and Internship because interview is mainly focused on that.

Bank PO/SSC

These exams are very popular now a days because of the large number of vacancies that are available after these exams. Generally these exams are based on Numerical Ability, Reasoning, English, General Awareness and Computer Applications. So, these are pretty generic topics which can easily be prepared and once you clear the written exam, you have to go through an interview in order to land a job.

Comparison

These are broadly various opportunities that are available after B.Tech and as you might have observed it seems that Aptitude and English are two most important subjects which students generally do not take seriously. So, prepare these well as it will also help you in GATE and ESE.

About the Author:

Ankit Goyal

Ankit Goyal is co-founder of Kreatryx which is an online and offline GATE/PSU preparation portal. He completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering  from IIT Indore in 2013. He is gold medalist of his batch. He cracked GATE with an AIR-8 with final year of college in 2013 but joined Qualcomm. He again cracked GATE in 2014 with an AIR 1.

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