In the coming days where artificial intelligence and machine learning are set to gain prominence, students should focus on upgrading their skills and should pursue inter-disciplinary studies, career consultant and analyst J.P. Gandhi has said.
Speaking at The Hindu EducationPlus Career Counselling Digital Conclave on Monday, he said that engineering and technology would play a major role in the coming days and they would influence almost every sector. “So irrespective of the course that the students would be opting for, whether it is engineering, medicine, commerce or humanities, the students will have to equip themselves with the right kind of skill-sets by the time they complete their course.”
Clarifying that getting a degree or more marks in the examination would not be of much importance unless the candidate had the right set of skills, Mr. Gandhi asked the students not to narrow down their options at the initial stages but to keep them wide open so that they could diversify even at a later stage. “Don’t try to make your passion your career, but carve out a profession keeping your passion by the side”, he advised.
Starting his talk with engineering courses and the latest developments in engineering and technology, he said the field had huge potential but the focus would be on skill sets. “Your digital skills will be more important than theoretical knowledge in the coming days. As technology is fast changing so are the job requirements and market trends. So choose a career looking at the future, not the present conditions.”
He also spoke about the other streams including medicine, commerce, humanities, paramedical course, and defence services and said that irrespective of the career they chose, students need to understand that artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics would be influencing almost every sector in the coming years.
Elaborating on how vast the changes would be, he said that while at present around 29% of the work was being done by machines, it was estimated to increase to 51% in a couple of years. Recalling a question by a student in a different session, he said that teaching, medicine, cooking and architecture would probably be the only sectors which could not be taken over completely by artificial intelligence.
Mr. Gandhi threw light on various other courses and the prerequisites for them and also the potentials and present trends.
Replying to queries by students, he said that while it was important for them to pursue their passion, they should also look at the career prospects and not restrict their options. Mr Gandhi advised the students, particularly those pursuing professional courses, to start preparing themselves for the job market from the first year of their course or make their plans accordingly if they wanted to take up entrepreneurship from the first year itself rather than trying to make changes or preparations in the final year. He also asked them not to have herd mentality while choosing a career.
Mr. Gandhi subsequently answered queries on prospects in medicine, defence services, foreign services, diplomacy, commerce, and humanities and on various competitive examinations//related issues.
Sponsors
The gold sponsors of the event are Hindustan Group of Institutions, Chennai; Insights IAS; and Cambridge Institute of Technology; and the silver sponsors are Acharya Bangalore B-School; East West; Jnana Darshana IAS; Shaheen Group of Institutions; and Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
