Sunil Dhadwe

Guiding people

Job or Post Graduation?

Job or Education

This discussion is for final year graduates(focusing on BCS degree),  who are holding job offers and want to do PG(Post Graduation), so basically in confusion state, what to do ?

Parents play important role

I have seen some parents are extra caring and want their son/daughter to complete their formal education(PG) first as  job is not mandatory right now for them and feel that you will not do PG once you start earning. This normally happens when parents are financially sound. So these graduates are now in dilemma what to do with job offer???????  Parents will also say that you will get better opportunity after PG. You can’t oppose parents as they are/were your financers.

parents

I am not saying, parents are wrong, but we need to really ask some questions to our   selves or at least think on it.

Why are we learning?”  Is this formal education really going to give us what we want? We are in just loop “ while( ! job)  study();  ”    We will be escaping out of this loop only when we get job. Learn from our parents and grandparents (how much they had to learn to start earning?). My point is there is no need of further education since you got a job, better start working and later on learn only what is essential for your career growth.

Another question is “Do YOU really want to study?”  Or are u studying because of parent’s force, peer pressure, etc..? Did you enjoy studying during your graduation? In my last 18 years of training experience (10,000 students) I have learnt that 99% students don’t want to study as they don’t really enjoy it. They are learning because they have to.

According to me in some cases Parents are going wrong as they are over supporting us as a result we get settled in life very late. Look at foreign countries, their trend is different, you leave your parents home at age of 17 and become independent. Considering today’s condition in India, assuming our average life is 60 years, out of which some ppl spend half life in education, so you get only remaining half to enjoy life, getting married, kids, etc.  Ideally we should spend only 1/3rd life in education then 1/3rd in job and forming family and then 1/3rd remaining life we should live for us(focusing on our wish list)

PG is common trend in science graduates

Heard Mentality It has become common trend among BCS students(Science graduates)  to do PG  without even understanding whether it will be useful or not? This trend is not seen in Engineers. How many students do ME after BE? BE degree is enough for them to get job. So if you got a job only on BCS degree then why do you need PG? Who should do PG is those who are not getting satisfactory job only on their graduation degree. There are chances that even after PG you might get same company or same job position and same work what graduate get, the only difference will be in starting package(it will be higher incase of PG due to their higher education). For example you get package of 1.8 lacks after BCS and 3 lacks after MCS/MCA. BE are paid higher than BCS, MCA are paid higher than MCS, it’s all because in industry you get paid based on your experience, but in case of fresher experience is zero, so measurement unit is education. Qualification matters only at entry level and then later on only experience counts.

If you are going for PG, only because you get good starting package then you should also understand that this is not true comparison. If you go for job directly after BCS then your experience starts and by the time your batch mates complete their MCS you will be 2 years experienced with salary hikes twice ( 1 per year), I am sure you will reach 3 lacks + in 2 years time.

Even if we forget money is not an issue for you, still you will be always 2+ years experience than your PG friends, this difference will help you in getting faster promotions, higher  salary, earlier  on site opportunity, will help you in getting settled in life earlier.

Some times you feel PG is necessary for getting managerial level or for arranged marriage cases, but then you can do PG side by side. I am not  saying that you don’t do PG, what I am trying to say is do/learn only what is necessary. Please avoid unnecessary learning.

study books

Want to learn more

Some scholar students want to learn more as they are more interested in studies. Even they should think about “where do you get real knowledge?”  During job / or in college. I am sure you will get more knowledge on job where u learn only what you need. Whereas these academic courses are designed in more generic way where you learn lot of things that you may not need in your job.

 

  

What is in your control??? Job / PG

So what is most important to you? At the end it’s JOB, right? So when you get job PG becomes secondary.

kathputliRemember, as an individual we can’t control market conditions and in last 15 years IT industry has faced 3 slowdowns. Whenever there is slack in any field it first affects IT industry. Whereas we can choose when and where to do PG. Once you start earning enough you can pay donation and get admission to any college that you want. But that’s not possible with IT companies. I still remember in year 2006, 3 students from Fergusson college got job offers when they were in final year of BCS and they all being studious scored well in exams. Their parents forced them to complete their PG first, so they went for PG. When they completed their PG it was slack in market, so even MCS/MCA degree was useless that time. They struggle to get job for almost a year. Whereas same time one student from Garware college also got job offer in his final year, he went for job directly. After 3 years, these PG students were searching for a good job by this time this Garware college student was already 3 years experienced in IT. This difference of 3 years will be carried forward for whole life as he will be always 3+ years experience than them. He is going to have better life as all opportunities(promotions/onsite) he will get earlier than those PG students who entered in market later. Surprisingly one of PG student is working under his Garware college batch mate in same company.

Moral of this real story is entering in job market as early as possible is the key to SUCCESS in life. You settle in life earlier.

Combining JOB with PG

Those who believe that PG is required for promotion or marriage(especially for boys), they should not leave  job opportunity. Today’s Working women are managing their job along with their household responsibilities. So in student phase why can’t you complete your PG along with the job?

Gulab Jamun with Ice creamThere are some IT companies who offer Bits Pillani’s MS course for their graduate employees, this course runs only on weekends whereas you work on weekdays. This course goes for 4 years(part time). To save time you can also think of taking admission to MCS/MCA to some college where they don’t mind absentee, in some colleges faculties come from industry so lectures are mainly on weekends. You can choose such college and complete your PG along with your job. In MCS there are only 3 semester X 5 papers (out of which 1 Project + 1 internal + 3 external) = 15 papers and good news is you have all subjects ATKT, so no worries about backlogs.  Along with job even if you clear 3 subjects per semester ( project with partner+ internal subject and 1 external) then effectively you have 6 backlogs in all 3 semester which you can finish off in 4th semester. In worst case you may need 1 or 2 sem(1 year) extra, this is still good as you were also doing job.

Following  this way, 3 years after graduation you will be post graduate with 3 years experience where as in case of typical students doing only PG will be post graduate with only 1 year experience.

Off course when you combine job with PG, your life will be hectic for 3 years but then you  will enjoy fruits for whole LIFE.

For further analysis, consider example of 2 students after their graduation, A going for PG and then job whereas B directly going for job and then do PG parallely (if required)

After Graduation A: first PG then Job B: Directly going for Job
Year 1 -ve ( Pay fees) +income = 1.8 Lacks
Year 2 -ve (pay fees) 1 year Exp +income = 2.5 Lacks
Year 3 Fresher income = 3 Lacks 2 years exp + income = 3.2 Lacks
Year 4 1 year Exp +income = 3.5 Lacks 3 years Exp +income = 4.2 Lacks
Year 5 2 years exp + income = 4 Lacks Promotion / change company 4 years exp + income = 5 Lacks
Year 6 3 years Exp +income = 4.5 Lacks 5 years Exp +income = 5.6 Lacks
Year 7 4 years Exp +income = 5 Lacks and Onsite opportunity(Earn in $) 6 years exp, income = 6.2 lacks

Note: these figures are tentative for understanding growth.
From above table we easily understand that by going for job first will start your experience and income wise you will be always plus.

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37 thoughts on “Job or Post Graduation?

  1. Rushikesh Tapadiya on said:

    v helpful thanks sir

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  2. pratik on said:

    It is a perfect guideline …considering the current market condition job is very important .

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  3. Vineet on said:

    very true Sir… cant really argue on that

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  4. Sumit mishra on said:

    Absolutely agreed!!
    Feeling good!! Did exactly same as u said!
    Thanks you sire!!

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  5. Amit Borkar on said:

    The real issue is that once a person gets a job, he/she becomes least interested in pursuing PG. So its equally important not to neglect PG. Since there is a time when qualification for a job mentions “BE or MCS/MCA/MCM” and at that time those who have just got graduation will not become eligible.

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    • Dinesh Vaidya on said:

      Its very true that “opportunity knocks only once” and you should grab it with both hands. However, it is equally important to weigh the opportunity before you grab it and start walking on a career path. I am a post graduate and currently working as a senior project lead in a software firm. I have spent two years of my career onsite working as a software developer in Microsoft.

      When I completed my bachelors degree (B.C.S) I had two offers from big M.N.Cs. The salary was also good as per market standards at that time (2003). However, one position was Q.A related and the other was related to a support project ( fixing bugs in pre-developed code ). I turned down both the offers and went for PG ( M.C.A) as my ambition was to become a very good software developer and these positions/career paths would not have provided a very strong chance for me becoming one.

      As a part of the market for last 7.5 years, I can tell you that the market considers BE and M.C.A/M.C.S equivalent and thus provide very less opportunities for B.C.S guys. Even if some company hires B.C.S/B.Sc guys then the guys land up doing substandard/less challenging work which does not help in building a very good foundation for their careers. This might not be true in case of all companies but this is the general trend.

      It is a good option to grab whatever work is offered to you and then continue with your P.G in parallel. However, a very few determined chaps can manage success on both the fronts. Even if someone does well and clears the P.G with good marks the company will offer him/her a promotion but very rarely change the stream ( so if he/she is working as a QA then the promotion will happen in QA stream only ). So another option is to switch the company and apply as a DEV in another company. However, the 3 years experience which the person has is in QA stream and hence he is as good a fresher.

      So the moral of the story is – weigh the opportunity very well before you start walking on a career path.

      If you are okay doing whatever work the company is offering OR lucky enough to get the desired work after graduation then just GRAB the opportunity with both hands.

      Wishing you All the best,
      Warm Regards,
      Dinesh

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  6. Pradnya on said:

    I would recommend do job and PG. Earn money while you learn. Since one cannot do job in single company for lifetime. When you want to look out for a new job, the minimum requirement is “BE\MCS\MCA”. Consider doing BE is equivalent to doing MCS.

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  7. Doing exatcly what you are saying 🙂

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  8. Yes true. Only one thing I would add here about PG is that you horizon and vision of a subject widens. Otherwise I completely agree with what Sunil Sir said. Right now in India the most important thing which industry is missing for is the skill set. Industry often complaints that the graduates who come out of college are not skilled enough to be employable.

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  9. Kaustubh Oke on said:

    Thank you sir for this gr8 valuable guidance. I want to share my experience about the 1st job or pg………
    1st job then pg, I recommend this way to those students who have big problem with theory…… I am veryyyy much struggling in MCS ……In BCS whatever we do in practical we can write it in the exam…so getting 1st class was not the big issue for me in BCS ….. In MCS….obviously the syllabus is very much vast BUT it is ONLY theory. You have to read all the theory from the 1st page to end like we write program from the scratch……students like me who can not sit for the study for hrs and hrs and having lots of hobbies will surely feel like DEAD MAN WALKING in MCS 😀 “किती पण वाचा संपतच नाही”
    even it is a master degree there is no specialization for a particular subject………… BCS or ANY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS READING THIS POST……plzzz don’t miss any opportunity you have right now……. I have missed 2 opportunities, they were giving 2.5 lac/year for fresher that time and now I don’t have job and MCS is not going well, every day I think that
    ” सरांच ऐकल असत तर बर झाल असत! “

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  10. Amar Jagtap on said:

    100% agreee with you sir, once you get an experience, qualification harldy matters in any IT industry.

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  11. Sanket on said:

    totally agreed…!!!
    even I did exactly what you said…
    thanks for the ‘law of attraction’ session taken @ my TY time.

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  12. Nilesh on said:

    Last year in the same month but few days earlier debate was on what to select MCS or MCA …this is never ending debate but I don’t know why they worry so much about

    it since very few students will get admission to MCS as there are very few seats available.

    Neither MCS is better than MCA nor MCA is better than MCS each of them are designed for different domain. Actually this concept of MCA is only in INDIA (To the best of

    my knowledge) no university in western countries provide such degree they are either MS in Computer Science or Computer Engineering or Computer Science and Engineering

    each of these degrees are designed to solve problems of certain domain in computer science though the difference is very small but it is not hard and fast rule.

    MCA was designed in INDIA for the non computer science background students to have entry in the IT industry who have mathematics as one of the subjects in their

    graduation.

    So comparing it with MCS is seriously not correct.

    Another myth BE students are paid more than MCS/MCA or MCA students are paid higher than MCS or vice versa…it’s not true…now-a-days company doesn’t make such

    differentiation unless he is from some India’s finest institute.

    Whether to do PG or Job?
    Whatever I am saying here is things I have seen and People I know working in IT MNC’s for atleast 7+ years in India as well as in USA.

    First question is what kind of job it is? Whether it is 24*7 job having shifts or testing or development or something else? See whether that kind of job interests you

    …ask people working in that specific field bcoz they are the only people having knowledge of such job profile and it’s future along with it’s disadvantages….. for

    eg take 24*7 kind of job … in such kind of work one has to work in rotating shifts some are weekly while some are monthly.

    Some might say to u that u can do such kind of job since u r young enough, experience is important and blah…blah.. but I have seen people working in such condition

    initial few days/months everything was fine but after a year or so they started having adverse effects on health….they have earned money but what to do with it buy

    “medicines” at such young age? no social life…..think over it… and some of them are BE many of them are BSc/BCA ….. now they are turning back for higher

    education…. what is use of such experience….?

    The basic principle of IT industry is to provide cheap labours and have high margins.
    What people in USA or their companies or their universities think of Indian software engineers? Do they look at us with respect…. the answer is “NO” they look at us

    as world’s cheapest IT force (there are exceptions).

    The reason behind this is the kind of job these Indian IT MNC’s are doing…. I am not saying there are no challenging projects …..yes we do have some challenging

    projets but question is how much?

    One of US govt. official said Indian IT companies are not more than a chop shop especially targeted to Infosys..why did he said this… what made him to say this and

    why our companies founders were quiet on this public insult that too in front of world. Because they know the kind of work they are doing and we have no option and do

    such kind of work.

    Now these founders are saying to sustain in this market we need to do some serious “Innovation/Engineering” work …and work at much more low margins… I would say

    better late than never.
    Many complex projects are now going to Chinese counterparts….anyways this is never ending topic.

    Now 30%-40% BE Comp/IT students go to USA to pursue MS and have good job…. even we can have that kind of job but after certain experience. To work in U.S with Indian

    unversity education background PG is necessary any PG will do or one should be atleast BE…. in short 12+4 years of education is necessary. There are few companies

    who mandate their foriegn employees to pursue MS from any US unversities.

    During promotion our experience, skills matter the most but we are not only the person getting promotion there are many others working with us in such situation our

    grading is done on our educational qualification not only during promotion but even when company has to select between you ( I mean we all) and your counterpart both

    of them having same skills and experience there are very high chances and most of the times company selects highest qualified person.

    Now think over it …yes market is uncertain …we can’t predict it….this is little confusing…..but think of long term goal not just short term goal… I am not

    not saying don’t do job now ….see whether it interests you …if job profile is good go for it ……freshers find it difficult to get job even after PG bcoz of

    selection process …I mean literally HR has contacts (money is involved) with selected colleges/consultancy and hire bulk of students from those institute etc and

    yes according to company’s slection criteria i.e quality is not compromised. And another reason is number of computer graduates passing out every year is too high ..so

    company has plenty of resources.

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  13. Archana Joshi-Tathe on said:

    Today I am in IT industry for 4+ years and I am glad to tell you that I have a promotion+onsite experience. I have still not done my P.G and I am BCS ONLY!! I dared this at that time because of your guidance and a heavy and brief discussion with you on “What Next????” while all my classmates were persuing PG. I owe my career progress to you completely. This blog took me down the memory lane and it felt awesome to read your incredible thoughts… Totally stupendous!! 🙂

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  14. Thanx sir its very helpful for me as I m the student of BCS

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  15. Neha Swaika on said:

    I completely agree with Sir and have ‘tried and tested’ this with my own career. I was placed in an MNC during my BCS campus placements, “sounds nice” I personally thought. But all my guardians and teachers were against me doing a job without a PG, they said it would put a line to my opportunities. I felt I was at a crossroads,then I consulted Dhadwe Sir, he very confidently and convincingly suggested me that taking up the job would be better and that I could pursue my Masters along by.

    I’m doing exactly that now. At this point of time,I’v have more than 1.5 years of work experience in an MNC and have completed 1st year of MCS. (Just 1 more round of exams to go!!) I won’t say it was a cake walk but with a bit of focus and commitment its definitely manageable. Just to encourage and motivate people who think job and studies cannot go hand in hand,I would like to mention that I had also topped my semester.

    Infact experience is anytime given more consideration in industry, but yes you require the Degree to become eligible for certain designations.
    So the approach suggested by Sir would definitely help people to be ahead of their peers and colleagues.

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  16. Kruti Mehta on said:

    I would like to share my exprience on job or PG :
    After my BCS, i was confused whether to study further or work, through campus i got placed in a MNC which was offering me 3Lacs…i asked sir to guide me..and he confidently said “Job”…i trusted him and went for it inspite of so many people opposing it..saying that PG is a must..u should study first..but i took up the Job…I am currently a developer in JAVA…working in struts and Springs..just completed a year in my company…got a 30% hike. i.e. 3.9 Lacs…And all this is because of Sir..without him I wouldnt have been here..Thank you soo much sir for guiding me..helping me grab the opportunity…
    People who say they want to learn..i would say there are a lot of things to learn when you are on live projects..much more than you can ever imagine…it is challenging and fun…Guys i would recommend JOB…Go for it..and u will never regret your decision !!!

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  17. bhagyashree kulkarni on said:

    Sir what about students who don’t get the link of coding? But r more interested in subjects like BA or SE.referencing my personal example.do u think MBA or MCA (management) will b good? Plz suggest some options sir

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  18. kisan kusumkar on said:

    sir….
    i am also doing bcs(2nd year) ,but in my college there is no any placement for bcs stundent .
    so what can i do after completing my bcs course?

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    • Kisan, keep ur eyes open … there are lot of walkins going for freshers. So even if ur college is not providing placements, U can try on ur own.
      Think, what will U do ? if ur PG college(MCS/MCA) also does not provide placement???

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      • kisan kusumkar on said:

        I understand sir…
        so, I decide to do job after completing bcs. sir is it possible to completing my mcs through companies which will providing me placement.

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  19. Dnyanesh Mahajan on said:

    sir now i’m pursuing ty bcs..if i get job in BPO or other sector(Not IT)then what to do?go for PG or job?

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    • It depends on ur interest. If you don’t like programming or if you can’t do it then better make ur career in non programming career and avoid breaking ur head in something that you can’t do or don’t like it.

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      • Dnynaesh on said:

        Sir..
        I’m interested in Programming. I want to do MSc CS.
        parallel can I do the job and do MSc externally ?

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      • Pune University does not have external MSc. course, so no college will allow you formally. You can still do it with mutual understanding of ur college teachers. Choose such college while taking admission to MSc. (Talk to teachers or Dept head )

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  20. israr khan on said:

    Can i repeat fy bcs as a fresher if i get year drop in fy bcs

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  21. Isaac Patole on said:

    Sir,
    Thanx a lot for your guidence. but I have one question I got less percentage ( all clear with 59% ) in F.Y. BCS so does it affect to me to get a job in MNC after graduation and my college doesnt give’s that much good placements so is it possible for me to change my college or it dosnt matter at all?

    Please reply,

    Isaac.

    Like

    • It will affect if MNC demands through out first class which they usually demand if they come for placements in your final year. Now what you can do is try for those companies which do not have such criteria. Another thing is try to get 1st class in your graduation(focusing on computer subjects) and then apply in MNC. Remember MNC’s demand through out out 1st class ( 10th, 12th and Graduation).
      Changing college will not change MNC’s policy as it does not vary from college to college. But yes, better college can get more companies for placements which will increase your probability of getting job immediately after BCS.

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  22. Dnynaesh on said:

    Thank You Sir!!
    I’m interested in M.tech in CS after MSc CS.
    it is Right Path?

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  23. Pooja Khaladkar on said:

    Yes.. its really true.It happens with most of the Fresher Graduates, who are in dilemma of JOB?? or PG??

    I would like to share my Experience so that it would be helpful for many more..

    Two years back i completed my Graduation and were holding offer letter of two MNC. But at that time i opted for PG just to complete my Formal Education ,declining that two offer letters.

    At present i completed my PG,this time also got selected in one of the MNC from campus. But the situation is still waiting for my date of joining.Now i regret declining that two offer’s .

    So people i really suggest you if same is the case of yours then do opt for JOB because JOB is the ultimate thing your going to do at the end. Or else you can do both JOB and Degree simultaneously.

    As market condition changes day by day we do’t have control on that ,so if opportunity knocks the door don’t let it go.

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  24. shubham shinde on said:

    sir now I m in first year of BCS and I am not interested in doing PG.can I do my MCS degree externally from any other university???bcoz I want to do the job n i m not at all interested in studying so much…can u plzz suggest me sir…does Mumbai university allows to do MCS externally????since I m studying in fergusson college, which is under the PUNE university

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    • MCS or BCS can not be done externally as they are practical courses. Not even in Mumbai.
      Unofficially you can do any course along with ur job and For that U don’t have to travel Mumbai.

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