Education & Skill Building
Skill training helps non-engineering students bag technology jobs | Bengaluru News
BENGALURU: Last year, BSc student Sona J, 20, signed up for employability skill classes where programming languages, coding, data analysis and cloud computing were taught, skipping her regular classes.
A year later, she says it was the best decision of her life. The girl has been showered with job offers as an analyst in three IT companies, including Wipro and Mphasis.
Sona is among the 2,537 non-engineering students who attended science and cloud computing courses under the New-collar Employability Skills Program late last year. The training was imparted in 23 colleges across Karnataka, NCR and Haryana, jointly by IBM and Nasscom Foundation, and ran up to 250 hours. Almost 1,000 students have landed jobs that were earlier thought to be the domain of engineers.
Bharath Baladhanvi, BCA student of National College, Basavanagudi, comes from a family of priests. His family wanted him to specialise in Sanskrit, but after attending the programme, he plans to enhance the value of Sanskrit through technology. “I have already presented a paper on how Sanskrit can be used as an analytical language,” said the 20-year-old who got offers from four MNCs. “I plan to accept Deloitte’s offer as an analyst,” he beamed.
Prathibha, 19, originally from Hubballi, lost her adoptive parents when she was in high school. She was then forced to go from pillar to post until she ended up at Vijaya College’s Hostel in Bengaluru two years ago. Soon, a relative who supported her education also backed out.
Her computer science HOD got her admitted to an orphanage — Abalashrama in Basavanagudi — two years ago. With a job offer from an MNC, Prathibha, a BSc student, is hoping for a better placement. “If I start working, I can’t stay at the ashram any more. So, I am looking for an offer that can support me well,” she explained.
Box: Few women in IT workforce at higher levels
Geetha Kannan of Wequity revealed the percentage of women in the IT workforce goes down from 34% at the entry level to just 2% at higher levels. She called it ‘leaking pipeline’ and blamed it on the mindset regarding work culture. “It starts from an individual’s mindset. Women are clear about their education but not so much about their career. This needs to change. Organisations must come up with more family-friendly policies,” she explained.
Santhosh Abraham, VP of Nasscom Foundation, said there was a gap in the workforce and women’s visibility in the fields of AI and technology. “Women comprise only 22% of the workforce,” he said.
However, Girish Kamath, VP and MD of Scientific Games, said they do find a lot of women in technical fields but don’t come across as much talent for the positions of artists and designers.
A year later, she says it was the best decision of her life. The girl has been showered with job offers as an analyst in three IT companies, including Wipro and Mphasis.
Sona is among the 2,537 non-engineering students who attended science and cloud computing courses under the New-collar Employability Skills Program late last year. The training was imparted in 23 colleges across Karnataka, NCR and Haryana, jointly by IBM and Nasscom Foundation, and ran up to 250 hours. Almost 1,000 students have landed jobs that were earlier thought to be the domain of engineers.
Bharath Baladhanvi, BCA student of National College, Basavanagudi, comes from a family of priests. His family wanted him to specialise in Sanskrit, but after attending the programme, he plans to enhance the value of Sanskrit through technology. “I have already presented a paper on how Sanskrit can be used as an analytical language,” said the 20-year-old who got offers from four MNCs. “I plan to accept Deloitte’s offer as an analyst,” he beamed.
Prathibha, 19, originally from Hubballi, lost her adoptive parents when she was in high school. She was then forced to go from pillar to post until she ended up at Vijaya College’s Hostel in Bengaluru two years ago. Soon, a relative who supported her education also backed out.
Her computer science HOD got her admitted to an orphanage — Abalashrama in Basavanagudi — two years ago. With a job offer from an MNC, Prathibha, a BSc student, is hoping for a better placement. “If I start working, I can’t stay at the ashram any more. So, I am looking for an offer that can support me well,” she explained.
Box: Few women in IT workforce at higher levels
Geetha Kannan of Wequity revealed the percentage of women in the IT workforce goes down from 34% at the entry level to just 2% at higher levels. She called it ‘leaking pipeline’ and blamed it on the mindset regarding work culture. “It starts from an individual’s mindset. Women are clear about their education but not so much about their career. This needs to change. Organisations must come up with more family-friendly policies,” she explained.
Santhosh Abraham, VP of Nasscom Foundation, said there was a gap in the workforce and women’s visibility in the fields of AI and technology. “Women comprise only 22% of the workforce,” he said.
However, Girish Kamath, VP and MD of Scientific Games, said they do find a lot of women in technical fields but don’t come across as much talent for the positions of artists and designers.
