It is not just education that can enrich one’s life, but the skills one apply that enhance the chances of getting a job. Hence nowadays students are looking at courses with practical approach. Here’s a list of popular courses taking India by storm:

Digital marketing: A digital marketing engineer executes a company’s digital strategy. He/she may be either part of the senior marketing management team or operating as a consultant.

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The responsibilities include implementation, and management of the digital marketing plan, including advising on using digital technology to improve marketing and business results. One must have a deep knowledge of marketing, social media and Internet technology.

Skill/vocational graduation degrees: A plain graduation degree offers students nothing more than just theoretical knowledge upon chosen subject where major stumbling block becomes lack of practical knowledge of working in an industry. A vocational training not only offers a valid graduation degree but also an in-depth practical knowledge of working with machines.

Almost every sector nowadays requires vocational training. Electrical skills, carpentry skills, construction skills, AI and networking skills, IoT and embedded skills, manufacturing skills, automotive skills and HVAC skills are a few to mention.

Ethical hacking: It involves gaining unauthorised access to data in computers, performed by a company or individual to help identify potential threats. An ethical hacker attempts to bypass the security of system and search for any weak points that could be prone to exploitation by malicious hackers. This information is then used by the person or organisation that hired the ethical hacker, to improve the system security, in an effort to eliminate potential attacks.

Internet security and networking are the two fastest-growing industries where ethical hackers can find employment. IT firms are the main recruiters of ethical hackers. They can also be required by financial service providers, airlines, retail chains and hotels.

Government agencies such as military and law enforcement, defence organisations, forensic laboratories, detective companies and investigative services offer challenging roles for ethical hackers.

Entrepreneurship: Courses like BVoc in entrepreneurship focuses on enterprise development which academia. Many national institutions of repute are conducting short and long duration entrepreneurship development programmes.

IoT and AI skills: These will enable students to gain expertise in smart connected devices, including end-device development, cloud computing, network design and management, application interface design and data management and analytics on one hand and a comprehensive coverage of essential embedded technologies, current tools and trends on the other.

It is structured to provide students with a versatile skill set, coupled with hands-on industry exposure. Students having skills in networking are being placed in industries such as automobile, electrical, banking, software companies and everywhere where computer networks are being deployed.

Informatics, phonetics and robotics: We are surrounded by smart devices that need better platforms and network architectures to support their usage.

The top five IT firms contribute over 25 per cent of the total industry revenue indicating that the market is fairly competitive.

Considering this aspect, the scope of IT (networking) skills is wide. BVoc in IT has been designed to introduce students to the operations of today’s complex networking infrastructure by giving them a comprehensive understanding of various networking setups, troubleshooting, repair of specific hardware and software products and secure connections. The knowledge imparted in this course is almost entirely hands on.

Communication management: A Master’s in communication management programme focuses on effective communication strategies used by professionals in public relations, advocacy and negotiation.

Students learn ways to better utilise new and existing communication technology, such as websites, e-mail and social media. Students can explore scopes in this area as chief marketing officers, marketing directors, social media communication managers, advertising managers, communications planners, media planners, public relations specialists and technical writer.

Education nowadays is no longer limited to science, commerce and humanities. However, despite the many options available, there still lies a skill gap that only time and awareness can fill. A dedicated career path is far better than pursuing aimless degree or diploma.

The writer is president, Bhartiya Skill Development University, Jaipur.