Value Of Experiential Learning Over Theoretical Learning In The Job Market

Ketan Kotecha Jun 22, 2021

After graduating from engineering colleges, the growing concern among the students is how to make themselves stand out in the industry. As more and more students are graduating every year, the competition is becoming stronger. Although college tells you that regularly attending classes, completing assignments and scoring good grades will get you a good job, candidates now also have to invest a lot of time and effort in building their portfolios.

When it comes to getting a job, college is not the most important aspect. Most of the college graduates believe that having a degree in any of the engineering fields is entitled to a job. But that is not the scenario. When you will appear for the job, you need to know the real-world application of your knowledge. So to stand out, you need to prove yourself.

CREATING A STAND-OUT RESUME

Your resume should focus on the relevant experiences and projects that will effectively reflect your skillsets or programming languages. Also, highlight how your skills contributed to the company’s products and profits.

Keeping your resume as concise and transparent as possible will make the recruiters understand clearly your strengths and achievements. At the same time show off your side projects too. This will reflect your passion for engineering in the resume.

A golden tip; always proofread your resume. Any sort of grammar or spelling mistake will instantly create a bad impression as hiring authorities take notice of these mistakes. The top-notch engineering CV gets picked out the fastest.

KNOW THE COMPANY BEFORE YOUR INTERVIEW

If getting an interview is a struggle, then convincing the hiring manager is even a bigger struggle. When you are applying for competitive roles in renowned companies, it is given that you are up against top talented competitors.

So spend a lot of time before your first interview and research about the company's niche, its competitors and evaluate its annual general statement. It is advisable to go through the company's press releases and journals. This way you can be prepared and simultaneously ask questions to the interviewer.

This will make a good impression on your attitude and potential. Often the engineering graduates are so focused on selling themselves that they forget that interview is a 2-way process and the candidate must ask questions to the interviewer. This quality will definitely make you stand out in the selection process.

BUILDING UP YOUR SOFT SKILLS

Engineers have got a bad reputation of being unsocial or left-brained. Though the job highly demands your technical skills and analytics, an engineer with equally good soft skills like written and verbal communication with higher emotional intelligence is always preferred.

In the modern-day office, the recruiters are now focusing more on verbal and written communication. In fact, in some places, soft skills are more preferred than technical skills. To increase your competency, you can always sign up for grooming and leadership courses and consistently work on your written and verbal communication.

ADAPTING AND BEING FLEXIBLE

In this high-pressure work environment, engineers frequently have to handle multiple projects at once. So you need to learn how effortlessly switch between roles and take up the new project at a moment's notice. This is important to learn so that it doesn't overwhelm you in the long run.

The ability to adapt to new dynamics and approaches under adverse conditions will make it essential for aspiring engineers to be flexible. This will not only help you in surviving in a tremendous workspace but also cultivate the culture of learning and promote innovation by implementing new thoughts and points of view.

THE DESIGN APPROACH

For many years, it was believed that the concept of engineering and product design doesn't go hand in hand. But some well-known companies like Apple have successfully challenged this idea. So embracing the philosophy of design thinking is very essential in modern-day engineering.

One needs to be creative enough to come up with a technical solution as well as design-centric ideas. This will help the engineers to adopt a human-centric innovation. The lightning pace of the modern-day workplace demands engineers who can go beyond their technical knowledge.

For aeons, engineering has been one of the promising career fields globally. Recent years have shown rapid technological advancements that made the golden age of engineering. Therefore, the demand for skilled engineers has created tough competition in all sectors, compelling an engineer to stand out in the crowd. If you incorporate the mentioned ways into your job hunt, then you will have better chances of impressing the hiring authority and standing head and shoulders above the crowd.