Engineering student - need general career guidance.

[rgsilent]

I'm a second year engineering student in the field of IT from one of the better engineering colleges in Mumbai.

So far my first two semester performances have been abysmal (52.5 percent agg) due to subjects like mechanics and drawing which I had no inclination to study but i managed to clear the year without any failures.

Anyway getting to the point, I'd like to know what exactly can I do (apart from academic scores) to have something to show for on my resume in two years time.

I have absolutely nothing to show for at the moment on my resume as I'm pretty low on cocurricular activities. And I think those things matter and give quite a bit of weight to your cv either for placements or post graduation.

So anyway I'd like to know if there are some part time jobs I can do (preferable IT related) or some programming courses or such (like .NET as it's not part of our syllabus) which might give me an edge over others in getting through the campus placements or getting into a good university for post graduation (MS or MBA - undecided).

I'd like to do some part time work as it definitely more worth and I can earn a bit too.

Any help will be appreciated.

Regards,
rg


PS: I know about communication skills being important for interviews and stuff but I don't think that's much of a problem as I used get consistently high scores in english in school and junior college and topped my school in the 10th grade.

[rgsilent]

Bump...anyone?

[Liverpool_fan]

Basically at this point you need to improve your practical skills. Having good skills with C and Data Structures, Java/.NET (Java is preferable as I understand), Networking, Databases, knowledge with Perl, Python, PHP can help too etc. You don't have to be an expert, just basic understanding is sufficient. Your projects during Spring Training (fall of 4th sem), and Training at the time of 4th year is also important in varied levels.
Don't expect to learn anything worthwhile in your curriculum btw.
Co Curricular activities do give you certain edge, particularly if you go to foreign universities for MS, etc.
Part time jobs : NO.
Courses at NIIT, etc.Well I don't think they really help but the mileage may differ.
You may consider certification courses such as RHCE, SCJP, MCSE, etc. but they are more like icing on the cake, however don't guarantee anything, but certainly nice thing to have on your CV.
And communication skills is more about listening and speaking especially rather than reading/writing, and is quite important and is often stated to be of more importance than your technical skills.

[rgsilent]

Curriculum is decent. Not that bad but it is pretty useless for actual work I guess. I'd just like to get something on my CV as I have nothing to show for so far.

[rgsilent]

I've heard nothing about spring training though. No one I know has ever mentioned it. Is it part of Mumbai university? You sure?

[Liverpool_fan]

It depends actually. You should ask your seniors. You may have Spring Training/Summer Training after 4th sem. Most Colleges have Summer Training while I know many which don't.
The internship while entering/during 4th year is there in all colleges AFAIK.

[rgsilent]

As far as i know only the IT field has internship in the 4th year in Mumbai university. Which is my field.

[abhidev]

I think u should go for java or .net training before u complete ur engg as u'll be job ready by then as the company would prefer you as they wouldn't hv to train you if u r well versed with it.

[Jerin]

Don't worry about your marks in Mechanics and Graphics because its difficult for most of them. I am sure you can improve a lot in the coming years. Keep the faith in God and yourself-that you can do it !