The most important thing when you are a BTech fresher  is to get placed as soon as possible. In today’s competitive world, a mere degree guarantees nothing at all. Since there are many graduates  vying for a limited number of jobs,  the recruiters have become even more selective than ever before. They look for some specific skill sets before granting  placements . Here we are listing a few :

Academic Performance/GPA : There’s no two ways about it people. Your GPA or aggregate over semesters is one of the most reliable metric the company will use to discern whether or not you have the discipline, the aptitude, the discipline to be employed at a firm. A poor GPA reflects lack of discipline, laziness and even ineptness.

Leadership acumen : Since most engineering graduates later shift to management roles, one must have ideally shown leadership acumen such as leading in student unions, founded a society etc. Such extra curriculars where you have demonstrated leadership potential show you as a well rounded person.

Interested in Latest Tech Developments : As an engineer you are expected to have uptodate knowledge of the latest developments in your field. In fact in your placement interviews you will explicitly be asked about the latest tech developments in your field or related fields.

Additional Tech skills : You should be adept in some CAD languages such as Pro -e, Catia, Hypermesh etc.

P for Programming : Yes you read that right. Programming. Many ECE students often complain that programming is for CS ( Computer Science) students and ‘’not really’’ their domain. But it would actually be prudent for you not to ignore programming altogether. Most of the technical jobs and projects today usually involve a heavy programming aspect. Moreover you can actually complete everyday tasks like data cleansing and integration much faster. Moreover it makes you more creative as well! So you should focus on learning good coding and not just something that works.

Don’t Ignore Basics : Yes! Ignoring basics or the fundamentals of your discipline can cost you dearly. Most subjects, especially quant based subjects are heavily dependant on how strong your fundamentals are. So no matter in what stage of studies you are in, never neglect to brush the basics. For example some of you might ignore basic analog and network theory concepts if you view electronics as just a discipline that helps in ‘’creating gadgets’’. In order to truly excel at your courses, do not just limit to mastering the basics, also focus on how to apply them in the real world as well. Keep yourself well versed in basic languages such as C/C++ as well as advanced coding languages such as Python.

Don’t Waste Holidays : We are not saying that you should not have fun. But do use the holidays judiciously to further your career by adding some meaningful internships to your resume. Try to include at least one internship at an academic research lab and one internship as corporate engineering intern. This way you would be adding both practical experience as well as research experience in your kitty!

Be A Member of a Technical Club : Or better still start a technical club! This is an excellent extracurricular activity through which you will be gaining the necessary leadership activities and also have the scope to innovate in exciting projects through which you can learn creative applications of the theories you have learnt at classroom.

Happy engineering!!

Competition in the professional market is more fierce than ever before, as there are so few jobs and so many applicants. So unless you have a few certifications to boost up your CV, having just a BCom can limit your job opportunities.

However with some good professional certifications, you can beef up your application and turn you into a competitive applicant .

• Chartered Accountant : Without doubt, this is one of the best certifications one can have with a BCom degree. CA’s are often considered as the backbone of finance organization or the finance deptt of any organization. They audit financial reports, offer financial advice and also keep financial records of firms up to date. Depending on your aptitude and dedication it can take anything from 4-5 years to complete this certification.
• Certified Management Accountant : Chartered Management accountants require both management skills as well as accounting skills. CMA’s help the management of a firm take vital financial decisions like budgeting. CMA’ help firms make well informed financial decisions..
• ACCA : ACCA stands for Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. This is basically a UK based qualification and you can become eligible for several MNCs. With the ACCA degree you can work in several diverse fields like law, taxation, auditing, consulting etc.

MBA : This hardly needs to be described much. This is one of the most popular grad course for BCom students. The MBA is a versatile degree in the sense that it involves a bit of everything. It essentially teaches you to become a manager. MBA involves finance, human resources, marketing etc.

So you failed your first semester. Not in one module, or the whole lot of them. Some of your friends did really well, some voted their performance as ‘’meh’’ some barely managed to pass. But you have gone up and royally screwed everything. You are at a loss right now. Part of you feels heartbroken, part of you shrivels with shame. However getting very poor or failing grades actually isn’t the end of life and you can improve ( with a bit of effort) Want to know how? Read on!

Treat it as a Blessing in Disguise : Poor or failing grades is a good wake up call. It shows you where you have went wrong. This means a time for self introspection, for a quick visit to the teacher’s office and to change your study habits. You don’t want a repeat do you?

Be Positive : Getting poor grades is always a blow to self esteem. Especially if your classmates have better grades and are rightfully celebrating. It can be a real dampener! But buck up and accept you have messed up and treat it as a learning curve.

Contact the Profs : If you had low marks or failing grades in many papers , don’t waste time – straight contact the profs and ask them to guide you, show you where you went wrong.
Change Your Priorities : If you had spent too much time partying, socializing or other non academic pursuits, time to change! Remember once you succeed getting better grades you can party as much as you like!

If you are a prospective student of  MAKAUT ( Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology ) or a current student enrolled in a college under MAKAUT, then this post is for you.

Scoring good marks in MAKAUT affiliated while not easy ( college is never easy!) , it’s not difficult either. With some strategy, dedication, perseverance you will get that 8 or even 9 point GPA. Read on below to discover the secrets of getting a high GPA at your college!

• Attend the classes : Seriously. Attending lectures everyday will give you the perfect material from where you can prepare for semester tests. Profs often gives hints as to what you can expect in your semester exams as well as your finals. You don’t want to miss those, do you? Besides, attendance can actually influence your final GPA.
• Take Lab Work & Sem Exams seriously : These will actually influence your final grade a great deal. Remember your lab work and practicals do count towards the final grade.
• O for Organizer : The Organizer should be your bible and the basic textbook – as most WBUT questions come from it. However if you truly are keen on getting a high GPA and excelling – do not solely rely on Organizer. Follow reference books and class notes as well.  
• Write your exam from the examiner’s perspective ; Let’s put it this way, if you are gunning for more marks ( as you should) you should make the examiner’s life less hectic. Write your paper neatly, with as little spelling mistakes as possible, and highlight key concepts, with a different colour pen.
• Consult past years question paper to detect pattern : Self explanatory title.

Getting good marks in college has less to do with luck and aptitude and more to do with dedication and perseverance. So if you have a good study plan and study regularly without slacking, you will get good grades.

What is the bane of an average engineering student?

Backlogs!!

In engineering terms, backlog is simply an unfulfilled or incomplete project/paper, or even failed courses that had not been cleared. Backlogs as stated before can be really frustrating and demoralizing for engg students, for several reasons – backlogs do look quite ugly on a transcript. It symbolizes modules which the student had withdrawn from, and might also create complications during placements – as backlogs signify immaturity.

So today we will be sharing a few tips on how to bounce back from a backlog :

Prioritize : Now that you have ended up with backlogs, you know which papers/modules are troublesome. Time to prioritize these modules over everything else.

Consult Friends : If you have friends or classmates who have cleared these modules with good marks, then consult them – they will be able to teach you better and help you clear your concepts.

Utilize Office Hour : A good way to clear backlogs and also ace these papers will be to directly contact the professors in whose papers you got a backlog in. They will suggest you how to handle coursework better, and how even to get better marks. The profs will be the ones that check your papers, so getting their advice will be a good thing to do.

Consult Previous Years Question Papers : This will be a good way to trace patterns and you will be able to gauge what type of questions can be asked of you.

Believe it or not, at end of the day, backlogs are in themselves not impediments to your ultimate success. It only signifies where you went wrong, and how you can improve.

This is a continuation of our earlier topic – on how to survive in engineering against all odds. Engineering can be divine or brutal – depending on which type of student you are. Some of you have enrolled in engineering because you genuinely have a passion for engineering – how the machines work etc. Some of you are here because your parents/peers/family expectations .

Whatever the cause may be,  moot point is that you have ended up at engineering college – and what you will accomplish later in life, depends much on how you utilize your opportunities at your college. Engineering is a fairly gruelling subject that depending on your natural aptitude and regimen – will yield commensurate scores.

Generally though, engineering is a pretty scoring subject. If you put an effort, then you will be scoring good marks. We will be sharing a few tips as to how you can sail through college – make it through college easily – and score good marks, without having to sacrifice yourself.

Try To Function Without A Calculator : Engineering is a part of STEM degrees. In fact – the E stands for the word Engineering. So undoubtedly – a lot of maths will be involved – and you need to brush up your math theories. Not doing so will lead to you struggling taking notes at class as well as projects where you will be dealing with advanced maths.

Find The Right Friends : If you want to succeed at college – then finding right friends and associates will go a long way. Choose friends wisely – generally it’s better to choose those who are good, regular students – who can help you out if you are struggling with a project, with whom you can revise , and who can motivate you when you are feeling lazy.  Stay away from unmotivated people in general – they can be fun to hang out with, but will drag your performance down – as lack of motivation can be contagious.

Skim Through The Material Before Class : Please skim through the given material before coming to class. You don’t have to know everything by heart – but going through the prescribed topic which will be covered in class the following day, will give you an idea of the concepts, what you can expect from the class. This way you won’t be in complete loss when the class begins and will be able to follow your professor more clearly.

L for Lab : As an engineering student you will be doing quite a few lab projects – so get familiar with lab equipment at times. Also try and strike up a cordial relationship with the lab assistant. They will be the one that will help you with lab projects.

C for Club : A good way to build up your profile whilst in college is to join in good clubs – like drama clubs, film clubs, debate societies etc. This will help you have fun in a constructive way, and also develope your profile nicely.
T for Tech Fest : Participate in tech fests as much as possible. Tech fests will be a good way to showcase your innovations. Any awards you fetch will also add to your CV.

Are you finding yourself doing rather slow on the coding front? Are you depressed on your coding speed? Then read on…
H For Hardware : Believe it or not inherent coding skills is not the only factor in determining your coding speed. Choosing an appropriate hardware is very necessary if you are seeking to upgrade your coding speed. Check if you have a good, functional computer with all parts intact and efficient. You can ensure – if your computer has a multi monitor, and HD Monitors. Quality hardware is important – as it will enable you to have a good overview over things like debugger, UI, browser, stack overflow, spotify etc.

T for Tools : Working with sub par tools can seriously hurt your coding skills. Get a good Integrated Development Environment as soon as possible. Other good tools you can consider are – ATOM, Visual Studio Code, Psycharm etc.

Go back to Basics : You might want to admit that your CS basics has been getting a bit rusty. In that case time to hit the books and clear up your basics – data structures, algorithms, design patterns, maths etc.

Think like an Architect : Don’t just think in abstracts . Try to apply them to solve real world business problems!

Want to study Electrical Engineering? Then these are the courses you should pay extra focus on!

Proficiency in mathematics : All said and done, engineering is a hardcore STEM subject, and some basic level of proficiency in maths is expected. Let’s put it this way – if you struggle at integration chapters – you will be in a soup when you are introduced to transform calculus( Fourier and laplace Transform) – in turn you will also struggle with circuit theory, control systems and signal processing. If you are not adept at linear algebra, you will be at a complete loss at papers like power system analysis, state space model etc. So polish your maths basics everyday.

P for Physics : That’s right! Even if you have no intention to major in Physics, in fact despise Physics to the bone – still you have to put an effort in clearing your Physics basics! Having a good understanding of Physics theories is necessary if you want to excel at electron devices. If you are an ECE student ( electronics & communications engg) you are expected to have a deep understanding of concepts such as Maxwell’s Equations – a Physics concept. In order to understand electrical mechanics you need to have a form grasp on topics like Rotational Mechanics and Electromagnetics.

Basics of CS : Even though you need not have mastery in CS – do learn how to code. EE graduates who have good knowledge about programming languages like MATLAB  simulations and SPICE simulations are very likely to get better paying jobs.

So now that you know how important brushing up your Math basics is, hit the Maths book ASAP!!  

Combine technical knowhow of computers (Btech) and some creative essence of multimedia leads you to the BCA – also known as Bachelors in Computer Applications which is an evergreen technical degree for those wanting to etch a career at IT or information technology sector.

So if you have a love for all things computer or CS, then choosing this course might work wonders for your career! Is BCA the right course for you? Read below to find out!

What is BCA? : BCA or Bachelors in Computer Application, as it’s name implies teaches students how to apply CS concepts to solve technical as well as technical problems in day to day life. BCA includes concepts like C and C++ programming, JAVA, HTML, PHP, CSS, Computer Graphics, Data Structures, SQL etc. All these will prepare you for a career at IT. One of the main advantages of BCA – since it is mostly a technical degree which helps you apply technical concepts to solve everyday problems – this course is guaranteed to make you ‘’job ready’’ .

Career Options : BCA is a highly sought after technical degree leaves you with a multitude of options. If you have overall good grades then you can get recruited by top IT firms such as Infosys, TCS, Wipro etc. You can also work as a software developer, SQL Analyst, Web Developer, Graphic Designer, IOS Developer etc. etc. If you acquire extra programming languages like Ds, Algo and how to programme effectively at Hackerrank and Hackerearth, then you can also be recruited by product based companies like Amazon and Flipkart. You can also get into big data by mastering languages like Hadoop.

So if you want to be job ready – i.e employable after graduation, a BCA from a good, UGC accredited University will let you find a threshold into your chosen industry. If you are a resident at West Bengal, then you might consider BCA course offered by Brainware University. Designed by industry experts, and available at affordable fees, this course makes you a tailor made candidate for current industry.