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Digital is the new buzzword for jobs of the future!

Updated on Aug 06, 2020 03:15 PM IST

A webinar, “New age skills for new age careers”, organized by Hindustan Times in association with SGT University puts the spotlight on future-ready skills needed by students to stay relevant across different disciplines.

The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of streams like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Data Science.(Pexels)
ByPromotional Feature, HT Brand Studio

In a fast-changing world, the Covid-19 pandemic has thrown up untoward challenges forcing organizations across diverse fields to rethink their future roadmaps and make changes to business plans to stay afloat. And in the process, the job market has also got impacted, altering the demographics of what is required out of new entrants into the industry today.

Technology and the digital transformations were already changing the face of businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of streams like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and Data Science. The pandemic has also created a belief that there are very stable career options within the government, whether it’s the armed forces or engineering services like quality council, because of the stability that they bring with them.

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In a five-session web series on the careers of tomorrow – “New Skills for New Age Careers” – organised by Shree Guru Gobind Singh Tricentenary (SGT) university and powered by Hindustan Times, experts from five professional fields look at how careers have got altered in the past few years and what students need to focus on to stay relevant in future job market with special emphasis on a post-Covid India. The session was moderated by Dr Rajneesh Wadhwa, Director, Center for Advanced Studies and International Relations, SGT University.

Law

As courts move to the virtual space, law firms are experiencing traumatic times due to the current pandemic with no fixed timelines around trials and litigations. Internships have been put on hold, impacting students passing out of law colleges.

“We have moved from physical courts to virtual courts. Students should use expertise in virtual areas and explore avenues which are directly or indirectly related to law. Students need to select a good digital platform and see the authenticity of the course, not just its duration,” said Anchal Mittal, Research Associate, Faculty of Law at SGT University.

Over the past decade, law has become a highly-paid profession especially since the introduction of the five-year integrated course. “It is much unlike traditional law and has become highly lucrative and specialised. A lot of new avenues have been created like cyber crime, sports law, intellectual property rights, human rights. There is a lot of scope for law students as well as legal institutes to explore these areas,” said Nidhi Upadhaya, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law at SGT University.

Another avenue which seems attractive, especially post the pandemic, is public services. “The pandemic has reinstated the importance of govt jobs because it gives you security. Judicial services is a charming option but students need to appear for a state-level examination for it. You can also become a public prosecutor or if you are passionate about the Army, you can become Judge and Advocate General (JAG) officer and represent Army officers in the court. Sitting for the UPSE exam with law as a specialisation is also a very good option for law graduates,” she added.

Engineering

The field of engineering has been a popular career choice for decades and still continues to hold its ground. But in this fast changing world of technology where technologies get obsolete very fast and upgradation is the new normal, universities have to make sure their curriculums are up to date with the right skills required by the industry to be employment ready. The course itself takes four-years to completion and the syllabus must be adaptive to incorporate the changes in the industry.

“We prepare curriculum in consultation with industry. We check industry needs and plan and develop the curriculum around that so that the student is never deficient on these new skills,” said Dr. Sahil Vashisht, Head of Department, Computer Science Engineering at SGT University.

The fast shift to the digital space post the pandemic has opened up a host of opportunities for engineering students, especially those opting for computer science. “There is demand from government and private sectors, to start-ups and even research post pandemic,” Dr Vashisht added.

But, has all the glamour been stolen by computer science? “Certainly not,” says Kaushal Sharma, Head of Department of Civil Engineering, SGT University. “Infrastructure development is the need of the hour in the country. Civil engineering is not just about real estate. You can go into highway engineering, environment engineering, structure engineering – all these fields have massive scope given so much Metro and highway construction is going on in India,” he said.

The railways and the Indian Army have emerged as big employers for civil engineers with the massive projects that they undertake for development. “There is a vast scope for civil engineers in government and private sector both. Students can look at ordinance services, PSUs like NHAI, NBCC,” he further added.

One of the sectors hit very hard by the pandemic, the automotive sector, is also one of the biggest employers of mechanical engineers. Sales have fallen, inventories are building up and production is reduced. The supply chain is also affected; impacting mechanical engineering especially those who are passing out of colleges and going to be in the job market soon.

“The students must have the right skill-set to get absorbed by several sectors like aerospace industry, automotive industry, chemical manufacturers, construction industry to build heating and ventilation systems,” said Dr Ajay Rathi, Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering at SGT University.

Agriculture Sciences

While almost every industry was hit by the Covid pandemic, our food supply chain didn’t affected. India is predominantly an agrarian economy, and the need of the hour is to create better practices around optimising yields, improve farming practices and a move towards precision agriculture.

The recent times have seen a major shift towards organic and sustainable farming and a large number of engineers are dumping their jobs and getting into organic farming.

“Agriculture not just about cultivation. In recent years, the education ministry has modified the syllabus of Agriculture Sciences to include all the latest technologies, like biotechnology, microbiology, plant tissue culture, information technology and various newly developed technologies are a part of agriculture,” said Dr Vinita Rajput, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at SGT University.

Technology and digital transformation is also finding its way into this industry. The marketing and sale of agricultural produce turning online bringing in room for technologies like AI to bring about greater efficiency. “Our population is increasing but the per capita land available for farming is shrinking. The quality of the soil is also changing, we need to adopt new-age skills to enhance farming,” she said.

Power engineering is the new buzzword. “There is a large scope for mechanization in the field of farming practices to reduce the labour and maximize the yield. Power engineering helps farmers use machines to improve efficiency,” added Er. Rahul Bhad, Academic Associate, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, SGT University.

Commerce and management

Management education has redefined its boundaries with new definitions and connotations over the past decade. Business plans are more dynamic than they ever were every and one should be flying light to survive. The Covid-19 pandemic has brought with it several challenges. But along with that, it also throws open a brand new regime to upskill ourselves. And this is going to redefine the post-Covid era.

“Two decades back, when we thought about long-term planning, it was for 5-10 years. Now, long term planning sustains for just 6 months to one year. That is a huge paradigm shift in the way that management of industries are changing. Uncontrollable external forces are impacting the management business in such a way that management education must be on its toes. This era is for the managers who can face the challenges and work in a changing environment,” Dr Amit Dangi, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Commerce and Management, SGT University.

Managers of today need to be specialised in their fields and a general management degree is no longer good enough to secure a job. “The kind of specializations that the industry has been looking for now has never been before. For example, we have started a BBA in Analytics two years ago after industry approached us and we created the course with features of both management and analytics courses. This fills up requirement of two persons with different skills by just employing one,” said Dr Chand P Saini Assistant Professor, Faculty of Commerce and Management, SGT University.

Post the pandemic, new age skills are finding greater relevance. “Any pandemic gives us a lesson to redefine our systems and policies. Management shows us the path to improve our business. Business simulation, business analytics and digital marketing would be the focus areas of the future,” Dr Saini added.

Fashion Design

The lockdown and recession that followed led to reduced liquidity in the market. People are spending less on luxurious accessories and clothing, which has taken away the sheen from the fashion industry. The focus now is on simple aesthetics, traditional craftsmanship and sustainability.

“It has been six months since the pandemic started and everyone in the retail industry is badly impacted, including big retail chains and small stand-alone designers. One of the main reasons was the closure of retail stores and malls. Even online sale was stopped for apparel for a long time,” said Deepak Sharma, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Fashion and Design, SGT University.

The silver lining for India is handicrafts and locally-made products. “Handicrafts are made locally and being sold in local markets which are open. The closure of global borders does not affect this business at all. India also has a position of advantage due to its unique handicrafts which are popular all over the world,” he added.

So, what skills should fashion designers of the future possess to tide through troubled times such as these? The paradigm has now shifted to digital spending – people are shopping online and retail platforms are also focussed on the online space for both sales and advertising.

“All designers, merchandisers need to be digitally updated as sales are moving online 24X7. Most big brands are advertising products online so that overall penetration is much better and impact is also bigger,” he added. But even as the new skills are necessary, there are three basic traits which are a must in the fashion industry – creativity and the ability to think out of the box, good visualization skills, and the most important one is strong communication skills.

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