Indian youth is more enticed by work with a cause than jobs with heavy pay packages. Recent trends show a surprisingly high inclination of the youth towards social and developmental sectors. Manoj P, Head of Operations at Asim Premji University believes that social sector today offers good career options and is equally exciting. He said, “The social sector today offers an enormous number of exciting opportunities for young people to build meaningful careers. Often, these roles are more challenging, given the range and scale of issues they would deal with and the personal satisfaction one can derive.”
Even though social sector does not offer the perks of the corporate firms, placement trends at the Azim Premji University (APU) indicate probable tough times for the IT sector in the future.
Kartik Kwatra, a computer science engineer chose to work with a nonprofit organisation in Andhra Pradesh over a swanky IT sector job. Kwatra is now working in Anantapur, one of India’s most drought-prone districts. He was hired on campus by Timbaktu Collective, a sustainable development nonprofit enterprise, to analyse agricultural data. However, it was a tough decision for him. The 26-year-old said, “It was a calculated risk. I couldn’t imagine myself sitting in front of a computer and programming ten years down the line.”
Another example is of Vikash Madduri, 31, who works as a consultant with National Institute for Smart Governance in Hyderabad. Madduri shifted from IT to the social sector and considers it to be a welcoming change. He said, “For me, it was personal motivation. I worked for three years at L&T and then two years at TCS. Since my interest was e-governance, I wanted to mix this with my IT background.”
Looking at the trends of April-end, 90% of students from MA Development and MA Education at Azim Premji University received 207 offers made by 57 organisations, a majority of which were non-profitable ones. So far, 187 organisations have hired from APU’s campus, offering roles such as field intervention, programme management, policy-related work, teaching capacity building and legal work.
The sudden transition of the jobseekers towards the social sector is seen as a major change. According to Manoj, APU’s Operations Head, students with work experience get 20-25% higher salaries than fresh recruits. The average salary is about INR 30,000 per month, which is comparable with the average salary a graduate from an engineering college can expect.
A surge in the trend, is a pointer towards a beneficial increase in the number of specialised professionals in the social sector.
News Source: The Hans India | Economic Times
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