Jayakumar B Introduction
Emertxe provides placement-oriented online courses in embedded systems to engineering graduates. We launched this course recently in May 2020, which can be taken by any engineering graduates seeking further education as well as working professional engineers who are looking to up-skill themselves.
Emertxe’s management, the student body and concerned individuals, to work together as a team in the embedded systems industry to combat the challenges and opportunities shaped by COVID-19. It is very important to keep up to date with the economic scenario of job openings for freshers in embedded systems and higher positions in the industry.
This article discusses the challenges and opportunities that not just fresh engineering graduates are faced with, but also, for engineers interested in higher studies as well as working professionals. COVID-19 has stunted the growth of many economies around the world, the repercussions of which are going to be felt for a prolonged period of time.
The game has changed permanently. with school and college exams have been cancelled or postponed. The job market has also responded to COVID-19. According to the EconomicTimes, “recent graduates in India are fearing withdrawal of job offers from corporates because of the current situation.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s estimates on unemployment shot up from 8.4% in mid-March to 23% in early April and the urban unemployment rate to 30.9%”.
Challenges Facing Embedded Systems Engineers
Challenges brought on by COVID-19 are felt already. Numerous companies who campus hired students from tier-1 engineering colleges like IIT or NIT are either postponing their joining dates or revoking their offers.
The COVID-19 also opened up another challenge of students from tier-1 colleges, who wanted to begin their higher studies may have skipped their placement activities in order to maintain focus on gaining entry to institutions abroad for embedded systems engineering. The situation for such students has become very uncertain.
Foreign universities have become more stringent and they will be extra cautious to allow students from various other countries to gain entry. Academic cycles are getting rearranged drastically to accommodate the impact of COVID-19. The challenge of tier 2 and tier 3 engineering college students is even steeper as tier 1 college students are available in the open job market, giving competition to the existing pool.
In addition to the already competitive market, there is also a great divide between institutions with and without funding who are able to make the transition to developing online courses or hosting virtual self-learning modules.
However, this is not the case for the entire country, and hence is further widening the skill gap between those who have access to these resources and those with limited means. As a global recession grips each industry, embedded systems working professionals are also party to the shrinking economy.
Going forward, organisations of any size be it start-up, mid-size company or an MNC will continue to optimise their cost structure. Hence, it is evident that not just telecommuting or remote working will be enough, but actually accomodating a cut in the paycheck while working. It is a possibility that further job losses are inevitable.
Windows of Opportunities for Embedded Systems Engineers
As the famous saying goes, when one door closes, another one opens. It is the attitude to adversity that determines a challenge from an opportunity. Hence, Emertxe invites you to take the next step into constructing your future with your hands in the presence of reputed, skilled and professional embedded systems engineers to offer you guidance to develop industry-relevant skills and gain placements up to one year after you complete your course.
In short, up-skilling is the only way to come out stronger from the pandemonium caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology-enabled learning or online learning is now becoming mainstream, from a trend it has become more a necessity to ensure skills are still relevant after the pandemic. Emertxe’s motivations to launch the embedded systems online course were accelerated by the pandemic. Along with popular portals like Coursera or Udemy are not offering such a comprehensive meta course in embedded systems. Due to COVID-19 new problems are emerging. Some of the examples could be:
- Innovative and cost effective ventilator combined with remote patient monitoring
- Personal protection devices which can proactively alert you of potential vulnerabilities
- Robots in industries like food and beverages for avoiding human interfacing
- Autonomous vehicle for reducing dependency on drivers
- IoT based solution for large scale monitoring for Government and medical organizations
Good number of start-ups in India have already started focusing on solving such problems. You could be the next person they choose to hire. But, first, you need to put yourself out there and join the ecosystem brought to you by Emertxe.
Emertxe’s Offerings to Each Segment of Embedded Systems Engineers
If you are a recent engineering graduate or entry-level engineer who is interested in securing a job irrespective of your location, be it a tier-1, tier-2 or tier-3 city, then Emertxe has got what you are searching for. Online courses in embedded systems which you can study from your place of comfort. It’s not only going to be a course but a package bundled with excellent technical support, self-learning videos, recorded classes and assessments and feedback sessions.
This ensures it’s not a revenue generation push or clickbait like other course hubs, instead, it is an outcome-bound result-oriented approach. Emertxe has revised and extended its placement policy where students can apply for placements up to 1 year after completing the course. This gives graduates in embedded systems ample time to develop their technical skills through numerous projects whilst being a part of an ecosystem in difficult market situations.
It ensures Emertxe’s students differentiate themselves in the crowded job market as skill is going to be the common denominator. The benefits of the embedded systems online course is that it adheres to the social distancing and geographic restrictions that are here to stay until the COVID-19 situation is brought under control.
This ensures students can safely stay at home and keep learning with increased focus and support from their ecosystem. Students that are pursuing further education are also suitable for taking on online courses in embedded systems. We will be able to provide a letter of recommendation based on your performance.
If your performance is exceptional, a virtual internship in the domain of embedded systems can also be arranged. In the past, many students have benefited from this arrangement by landing opportunities in reputed universities across the globe which includes Singapore, Germany, France, Norway, USA and UK. That’s the beauty and bounty of technology-aided virtual classrooms, anybody around the country can benefit.
For working professionals at the apex of their career ladders, the challenge is steeper because it is not only about upskilling but also about repositioning your career to complement the skills you have already gained. Emertxe is striving to fine-tune a solution that has already been sought for professionals and as soon as it is complete, there will be an announcement. So, keep watching this space.
Conclusion
While the COVID-19 situation might feel like opportunities have closed their door on us, we are required to use this situation as an impetus to think the opposite and take advantage of each opportunity as they present themselves.
Taking online courses in embedded systems is your ticket to having a future-proof career as it is one of the foremost industries that have tremendous growth potential as well as the backing of the Government of India through NSDC and ESSCI non-profit organisations.
To recap, the opportunity you have to network with industry shapers and leaders through taking Emertxe’s online courses will only benefit you in the long term, provided your best efforts are invested. So, are you ready to take the leap into these online courses in embedded systems that will shape your future?
Visit Emertxe.com and select the course best suited to you to take advantage of our technical expertise and our close-knit network links with the leading firms of the industry.