Monday, June 23, 2014

Giving Power To The Performer

Surging unemployment rate in the country has increased the burden on the higher education institutes, who are making constant attempts to reduce the gap between the job availability and employ-ability in the market.

More skill focused programmes have been initiated in almost every university and college, to improve the employ-ability standard of its students. With expansion in facilities the count of students successfully completing their graduation is higher than the number of students who land up in a job, in the industry.

This creates a lacuna in the whole education system which fails to fulfill the purpose of acquiring a professional degree. The main reason cited for this, is the lack of proper skills and industrial training,  which makes the academic qualification of students insignificant for a particular job role.

Empowering youth through employment is  the most important medium of engaging youth in the nation development process as well. As per the recent survey record, nearly 45 lakh graduates remained unemployed annually. This figure has further swelled up by 9% in the last two years indicating a major drawback in the skill development sector of the country.

What is the root cause of the problem?

The root cause of the problem lies in the theory of practicing traditional method of learning in the institutes at higher education level.  Vocational training and interactive sessions should be given mandatory approach by the institute ensuring good placement records.

In this age of universal science and technology where innovation has been prioritized as an important element of research and development, limited resource has resulted in less contribution in this sector.

Students often study a subject of convenience over their interest. Wrong subject / course choice because of limited seats during admissions,  is another major deterrent in the career growth. It narrows the employ-ability chances of students further, as they are unsure of their academia qualification and also lack the practical skills.

What is the possible solution?

Job orientated training courses are gaining more popularity among the masses as it assures them higher chances of getting absorbed in the industry, immediately after their degree course is complete.

University like Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) provide special vocational training sessions, in each of its courses,  that focuses on the enhancement of the practical skills of the students, giving them power to perform better.

The Engineering graduates from MRIU have exemplified their innovative skills on various national and global platforms, receiving laurels for their performance. Higher placement record of the students have further confirmed the quality of the training programme delivered in the university.

Skill+Will + Zeal= Win, the most successful mantra of empowering the youth, initiated in Gujarat, practiced by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the most fundamental method of preparing a pool of skill employees, ready to be hired.

This mantra needs to be adopted by the education sector as well, to help build a connectivity between the recruiter and the trainer.

MRIU provides its students with  skill-centric industrial training courses, that equips its graduates and post graduates to deliver efficiently in the job market. MRIU believes in creating a complete training package, as an integral part of its course structure, across varied courses.

Change in the recruitment paradigm of corporate giants, who give first preference to a higher qualification and more experienced CV, compared to just a graduate.  The dual degree programmes of MRIU have received positive result, with students acquiring dual degree stamp and getting a better pay package and exposure in the market.

MRIU dual degree programmes also contributes in the international learning process of its students, through its foreign university affiliations, thereby opening a job opportunities for them abroad.

The only way of mending the broken bridge and improving the employ-ability status is by providing enough power to the performers through skill development short term programmes/courses in the college, in order to prepare them to be readily hired.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

What makes employ-ability so important?

In our country less than 15% of the graduates get started on their career path; then what hinders the rest from taking the first successful step in their career?
The Career Development Centre (CDC) at Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) takes care of the employability factor in their students. Every student is not capable of matching the standards of the corporate world, despite their highest score or a good academia background.
The director of the CDC, Vikash Mehra, believes that there are students at various level- graduates, MBA and a chunk of engineering graduates who remain unemployed as they fail to match the industrial standards.This is a major reason for the huge gap between the employability and the availability of job opportunities.
 If we look at statistics in India on an average only 10-12% of total graduates get employed in an industry of their choice. There is a huge gap that needs to be addressed in order to hold actual value to the degree received by the students.
Citing some facts, in case of management, on an average only 15% of the graduates get employed. Nearly 16 lakh engineers successfully complete their graduation every year of which only 17% receive their due return in terms of jobs in the market.
When we talk of employ-ability skills, Career Development Center at MRIU has defined it in simpler terms. According to them employ-ability stands for -
 Ability of an individual in assessing his/own strengths (skills, assets/vale/knowledge) and also being aware of one’s weakness that needs to be covered up over time. This quality of self assessment allows students to explore correct job opportunities.
The basic problem faced by our students today is their wrong judgment and selection of their career path, Most of the engineers end up pursuing a totally different course post their graduation as they seem unsure of what they aspire to do.
Counseling in that case is most crucial and important at the start of the career graph. There is free counseling sessions in most of the universities and institutes that provide guidance to the students during the orientation week, so that students choose right course for themselves. Once the students are capable of self-assessment, they are equipped to explore right job opportunities in the market and make informed career related decisions, all by themselves.
CDC helps students in identifying the requirement of a job role and then training students accordingly.  They achieve this by preparing a compelling action plan (Effective resume, Covering letter, Preparation for Personal Interview etc.)
To cater to all the above issues Career Development Centre provides coaching and practical training sessions on basic Employ-ability Skills and Business Communication. They also providing personal grooming to the students by working on their  Personal Productivity Skills (Time Management, Problem solving, Decision making etc.), Quality (Lean, Six Sigma) and Managerial Skills (Performance Management, Effective Coaching, Team Building etc.) which are rated very highly by corporate across the world
Career Development Center is providing extensive process oriented and activity driven training on Personality Development, Business English, Business Communication and Aptitude Development. These trainings are delivered in two formats – Regular Semester coaching and Crash courses
Career Development Center is also helping the placement initiatives of Manav Rachna Educational Institutions by tying up with companies like Aspiring Minds, Co Cubes, E Litmus etc. These companies conduct Employ-ability Assessments that are recognized by wide range of corporate. This has helped students get placed with companies that do not come to campus otherwise
Career Development Center has been instrumental in making students participate in activities that help them add more professional qualifications to their CV. 
Employ-ability is considered one of the primary objectives of a higher education system. It becomes mandatory for institutes/ higher education universities to ensure a good career opportunity to all its students.
Although colleges offer campus placement as an important medium of connecting the students to the corporate world, providing proper training to each student for their easy acceptance in the industry is also imperative in the present.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

When College Becomes Your Work Place

Research is the birth point of new ideas that leads to innovation and evolution. India is still striving to buck-up in the department of research and development as most of our students choose to get away with just scoring numbers and getting placed in big corporate giants.

However, the changing trend in the corporate world has also changed the rules of education. Corporate houses are now keen on employing skilled and already trained minds over just the top scorer in the class.

This has called for great emphasis on the research and development department of the institutes, who lay great impetus on ensuring sound R&D infrastructure and resources for their students.College libraries, research labs, cyber cell, special research departments are few of the mandatory research spaces allotted carefully in every institute.

What has become more encouraging for students is an option of assisting the research team of their own institute after they have successfully graduated from the college.
This is another most opted career by students where they choose to serve their own alma-meter by joining the institute in various capacities like researcher, student coordinator, placement cell manager , creative department head  and social media coordinator to name a few.

Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) is emerging stronger in its research and development department, by giving new and challenging opportunities to its ex-students in their research team.

Students are overwhelmed to be recruited by their own guardian educational institute where they can work in familiar environment and sit on the other side of the desk.
Many successfully graduated students of MRIU have shared their enriching experience of getting placed in their college campus itself. They believe that the process of learning does not end with acquiring a professional degree. It is rather more important to have a practical application experience of the knowledge.

MRIU professors believe that their main aim is to break the walls between the disciplines, industry and academia to inculcate the true structure of learning.
There is a greater need of preparing students with a mindset that quality work is more important than a brand name of a company. If a student is able to get more detailed understanding of a subject and the same profile becomes its job it can solve the dual purpose of learning and earning, at the same time.

Youth who were once students can now interact, connect and communicate with their junior colleagues and help cross over the step which they found difficult to move on.
The campus employment option also helps create more job in the otherwise limited opportunities for the fresher lot.

Manav Rachna has always created new platform for its students, to establish themselves so that they can fulfill dreams of different kinds, in the on campus jobs in their own institute.

Hence learning has taking precedence over education qualification and job.


Wednesday, June 18, 2014

MBA At MRIU: Offers An International Standard Learning Programme

Bridging the gap between the education and practical application seems the main thrust for most of the institutes now. This unique blend of 'rote learning', 'analytical knowledge' and 'doing a skill' is what defines a proper Management course in a university.

Manav Rachna International University ( MRIU) is strengthening its position as an excellent and competitive quality education provider at both college and University level. The multiple-disciplinary courses offered in its large campus spread across acres of land space in Faridabad, has managed to give cut throat competition to some of the grand old educational institutes in a very short span.

Courses ranging from engineering, management, media studies to school of applied science; MRIU has excelled with its performance in all the departments. Students of Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) in MRIU have an edge over others, as their management training programmes includes additional exposure to practical industrial training during their course of 2 years, backed by the traditional theoretical classes.

MBA is not only a knowledge centric but skill centric course as students require to be trained to apply their rote learning into practice by innovating and improvising on techniques, already taught in the classroom courses. The MBA programme at MRIU allows its students to connect to varied dimensions and situations that a competent manager is expected to deal with in the real corporate world. 

Giving wide exposure to students through experimental learning methods like live field projects, workshops, action research, simulations, prototyping, role-scenarios, social dramas/ psycho drama, dance, meditation, global immersions, case studies, seminars, lectures and mentoring, is the unique learning progamme offered in the institute which is a more pragmatic approach to learning.

With a vision of creating value based knowledge society, FMS endeavors to assure quality in education and research with an applied approach. The state-of-art infrastructure and an updated curriculum is what facilitates a sound research and development department in the University, providing students enough resource to innovate and bring about productive results.

To enhance its research capacity MRIU launched its Ph.D programme in 2009 in various disciplines including management studies as per UGC guidelines. This ensures that students and pass outs receive a quality doctorate with the best research paradigm of the University.

MBA students are also privileged to benefit from the industrial tie-ups of FMS with some giant corporate groups that provide direct industrial training to the students during their course tenure. This further ensures students  to prepare themselves for direct placement with a good package, in the affiliated organisations, as well as apply with greater confidence in other corporate houses of their choice.

Students are thus capable of applying their classroom knowledge to practical utilization during their internships, community service, on-campus jobs and research activities.

KPMG, a world renowned consultancy company associates with MRIU with its MBA and B.Com- Industry integrated programmes where they provide classroom and lab training. Fortis Healthcare, an Asian giant also associates with the MBA-healthcare management programme, where students are given 100 days training in hospital operations and 24 week hospital attachment in Fortis hospital.

Media-Communication-Marketing is another specialised training programme for the management students where the media corporate ICHIEVE delivers intelligent management solutions to clients to achieve excellence in the areas of retail distribution logistics, finance investment, marketing media communications. This unique Media Communication & Marketing Modules of MBA programme offered through classroom delivery method enhances the media communication skills of the managers increasing their employablity skills and prospects.

In order to provide an affordable and distinctive opportunity to its students where they can achieve international standard education and training, MRIU has signed MOU with an international brand universities like the Edinburg Napier university (UK). 

Students are provided dual degree MBA certificate on completion of the 2 years course, along with an experience of how Marketing in Global economy is executed.

This dual degree programme enriches one's qualification and adds an international dimension to their resume. It also helps develop customer focused, agile and humane based practice that fits the requirements of a dynamic work environment at regional national and international level.

MRIU gives special impetus in delivery of highest quality of education and research and attracting and nurturing great minds, to create a competent pool of managers that benefit the corporate world and the society as a whole.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Management Skills Are the Best Defining Quality of A Successful Career

Most of the colleges/universities that provide a lucrative career in the business world propose MBA (Masters in Business Administration) as the best course to achieve the required knowledge and basic understanding of dealing in the demand and supply market.
Doing business of your own in India is considered the best option and most preferred choice of youngsters today. More risk=More return; this phenomenon holds great significance for students who are at a juncture of planning their career graph.
Choosing a correct B-school and a good MBA course structure offered by an institute, is most essential for the students or entrepreneurs who are keen on attaining eligibility for the corporate world.
It can be said that the demand for a MBA in the corporate world stakes higher in almost all kinds of industry, ranging from commercial, creative, entertainment, cultural and even political industry.
MBA or a BBA programme is believed to facilitate skills of a leader, a team worker, a supervisor, a communicator, an organizer and of course an entrepreneur in individuals who pursue the course as their academic qualification.
Infact, more interesting is the reality that it is not only the fresher’s or the graduates who aspire to excel in their management skills  but people already settled in different career also aim to imbibe the basic/ specialized qualification of a MBA in order to pave a path of growth and progress in his/her selected career.
For instances, we find filmmakers, musicians, singers, journalists, mountaineers, sports person, scientist, engineers, IT professionals, doctors, dentists, surgeons, artists and various other professionals having an inclination towards acquiring a specialized degree in marketing and management.
We have been trained right from our early childhood days about the need of bridging the gap between consumers and producers of a product or service.
Thus, it becomes important and needful for professionals, of varied nature, to imbibe skills of communication, management and administration to ensure a long survival of their career.
MBA is also highly rated qualification in the job market. Organizations are keen on hiring managers with diverse backgrounds and skills rather than the routine degree holders of engineering or other specific fields.
There are more job opportunities and vacancies at managerial sectors of all Industry. Be it a health care sector, a hospitality sector, an education sector, an entertainment industry etc, all have ample scope of hiring managers at the board level.
Many survey and analysis have determined the rising prospect of career in management role, which encourages undergraduates to grab an MBA degree.  
Enhancing employability skills of its students stands as a foremost criterion for colleges/universities offering a number of other courses/programmes.
When the market seems more favourable and feasible for an MBA student, who have chances of being absorbed domestically and globally, colleges have initiated a number of specialized management programmes for its students along with their regular course paradigm.
This has been witnessed as a new trend and need of the education society to incorporate more ways to make their students capable for the working environment.
An MBA programme allows one, to acquire diverse set of knowledge in a short period providing more scope to take up the challenge of a corporate world.
In an unstable economic condition, it becomes more difficult to assure a very promising future in any career for that matter. What MBA helps in achieving is a packaged training programme, involving academic and field training in a balanced manner.
It rather allows an individual to understand the functionality of the entire organization. In this respect, we can say managers have a holistic view of the industry and are not limited one particular department.
However, it is not all rosy picture for all the students or individual who have acquired MBA degree, to have similar success story; as it is accompanied with a caveat of failing to acquire the knowledge which is more skill centric, in the right manner and from the right institute.
Students should be careful while choosing the B-school or MBA institutes, for brand does not matter but quality of programme and course justifies the choice better. 

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Innovation Is The Success Mantra For The Students At Manav Rachna College of Engineering.

Innovation and creativity go hand in hand at Manav Rachna College of Engineering (MRCE). Touted as one of the most reputed brand institution for technology and applied science, MRCE has set the best model of ‘how innovation plays a significant role in developing science and technology.

MRCE being one of the flagship institutions of Manav Rachna Educational Institutions (MREI) aims at producing a pool of competent technocrats who can prove to be an asset for the technology sector globally.

A lot of emphasis is being laid on the research and development (R&D) section, ensuring much wider scope for the students to innovate and create resources that can benefit the society.
MRCE students have once again proved their excellence in the field of innovation and implementation of science and technology, as they stood victorious in the National Finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014.

Bagging first position in the student technology competition, hosted by Microsoft, it marked an astounding achievement for the MRCE students, who successfully etched the name of their university on the global map.

Five different teams from MRCE had registered for the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014 (Innovation Category) and it is noteworthy that of the 10 teams competing in the National finals for innovation category five were from MRCE.

This reflects the participatory spirit of the students who stand confident of their knowledge and competence, and successfully outsmart their competitors in the field of innovation in technology and applied science.

The National finals were held at Noida from 27th to 29th April, 2014, where 60,000 student innovators from 25 Indian states battled it out for the top three spots in the India-leg of the 12th annual Microsoft Imagine Cup 2014.

The Imagine Cup which is a year-long activity is carried out at local, regional and national level giving a platform to the students of the Engineering colleges to showcase their projects internationally, with winners from these legs participating in the global finals.
MRCE is not limited to providing its students with sound R&D resources, but it gives equal emphasis on training its students in an industrial training environment.

Various departments in MRCE including chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering, electronics and communication egg, information technology have flexible curriculums and they give maximum priorities to the scientific method, chemical inquiry, critical thinking, data acquisition and evaluation and effective communication, both written and oral.

The objective of MRCE departments of technology and applied science is to provide fundamental knowledge backed by strong R&D activities. Good infrastructure and collaboration of theoretical departments with technical departments helps create an appropriate base for students who can easily adapt to new emerging technologies.

MRCE has established its winning standard by providing a nurturing ground to the innovative engineers through its well-structured technical clubs and societies.

Year round activities, close mentoring, support and motivation from the senior officials and faculty members, provide the strong platform to the students to hone their skills. Group of 19 students from different engineering streams of MRCE worked on five different projects to convert their dream in to reality. Working on these kinds of projects make the students realize about the importance of interdisciplinary nature of work.

The students of MRCE not only excel in their academic qualifications but have all rounder streaks, as they host yearly cultural and literary festival at state and national level.
College facilitated research activities at MRCE lays down R&D standards, publication standards; issues calls for funding from the R&D fund of MRCE and facilitates interaction with peer academic and industrial organizations.

MREI holds institutional membership of industry associations including American Society fo Qualtity, CII, FICCI, Quality Council of India, Faridabad Small Indutry Association(FSIA), IAmSME.

A frontal organisation of FSIA has established a TodPhod job centre at Faculty of Engineering and Technology(FET) in collaboration with National Innovation Council for training of students in hard skills in engineering and technology and for providing consultancy to members of FSIA for solving teh industrial problems.

Innovation is the survival tactic in MRCE, where continuous learning from the best practices, study role models and development of transparent procedures for empowerment of all stakeholders lies in the prime agenda of the college programme.

Students from MREI have also displayed their innovation and technocratic skills in Haryana Pavilion, where they exhibited a Formula One Racing Car for which they received two awards at SUPRA SAE 2011. This is just few among the many achievements and accolades bagged by the students of MREI.

In November 2013, MRIE students displayed Tractrobot, Smart blind Stick, Pick and Place robot, Pills Box Smart Dustbin and many such projects showcasing the state-of-the-art-technologies developed by the students in the University.

MREI has been recognized for its outstanding output in the field of Engineering and Technology, as it believes producing technocrats of global standards. Students of MRCE have become an important part of the evolving techno-world, exhibiting their packaged training in the best engineering College in the country today.

Monday, June 9, 2014

The Importance of University In Shaping Students Career

Admission season keeps students worried and busy in contemplating their college life as it has  great impact on their career prospects, in future.Students have various set criteria that play a significant role in joining the college of their choice.

There are some students who aspire to become an engineer, a doctor, a manager, a teacher and many who pursue further studies in various research fields.However, this does not keep these students away from the lot who dream of a non-academic career in the field of art and culture .

 Nowadays, most of the youngsters get easily influenced by the silver screen portrayal of a college life. Here we are talking about the -all dazzling- campus life, sketched out in movies like ‘student of the year’, where a high school emotional drama is played out on a designer set, making it appear a dream like sequence; or we may look at the friendship and love stories emerging at the heart of a college life, in celebrated flicks, urging  an unrealistic approach towards a university life among-st students.

Inspired or influenced by this vision, youngsters often look up to the college life, which can provide them a platform to experiment in the non-academic portfolios and test the best out of themselves.

In most of the upcoming universities/ colleges one can witness expansion of an academic community of its own, in their attempt to embrace a larger category of non-academical courses and events. This allows students to engage in a competitive life beyond their traditional classroom performances.

We can see  plethora of events, festivals, national level competitions and other entertainment festivals playing a prominent role in a college students life. The overall conduct of a student is also judged by his/her involvement and performance in other extra curricular activities of a university.

Theatre clubs, music band, inter college/university programs/debates, fashion and cultural events  are few among the various social engagement platforms, hosted by universities, where a student gets a chance to play the role of  a leader, a performer and sometimes even a protagonist in an inter-college event.

It has thus become extremely important and unavoidable for universities to expand their academic community beyond the regular courses.

 Manav Rachna International University (MRIU) in Faridabad, has set  new standards  by introducing  interesting courses and exploring the other non academic side of a college life.

Alumni member of MRIU, Shruti Rana, who was crowned 'Miss Asia Pacific' is among the shining celebrities of the fashion and glamour world today. She was a student of Faculty of Media Studies(FMeS) in MRIU and pursued mass communication in her graduation course. She credits her university and its whole environment  for boosting in the right confidence, which enabled her to take on the challenge at a global level.

Manav Rachna International University(MRIU) has served as a stepping stone for many, who have successfully carved their own niche in the society, in the world of sports, management and other professional fields.

Gagan Narang  who is known as the 'Best International Shooter from India' is also an alumnus of Faculty of Management Studies(FMS) in MRIU. " The zeal to excel and achieve your dreams is uncovered and catalyzed by a good university" said Mr. Narang who takes pride to be a member of the MRIU family  and its all- rounder academic society.

In today's time, when success is measured by how much you excel in a particular field, it becomes important for students to choose the right university; as it can help them in exploring their interest as well as grab opportunities, right from their college days.

Admission in a good university itself serves as an overwhelming  opportunity for youngsters who dare to dream big in life. 

Manav Rachna converts your hopes into confidence, leading your dreams to become a reality.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Dual Degree Offers You Dual Gain

Efficient educational paradigm is the next most trending pattern in the education system of India, particularly the private Universities. There is a growing demand for specialized higher education courses, as many colleges are now seen offering dual degree or a joint degree integrated programs.
An opportunity for students to combine their more than one interest subject and pursue a specialized degree course for the same, is the most efficient study package available. More achievement in less time is preferred by the Universities who choose to affiliate themselves with an international Institute, for a joint Masters degree program.
These joint dual degree program however, do not load double pressure on the students for the course structure is designed in a manner that carried out smoothly. it is an perfect blend of  practical and theoretical classes in a manner that the students can learn and cope with both.
Generally the foreign Universities have a three month research programs in the last semester along with the routine degree course of the indigenous college. Based on the research assignments or dissertations submitted, the performance for the dual degree is decided.
The most important benefit of acquiring a dual degree is it doubles the chances of students in the job market. A student who has acquired certified degrees in two specialized Master courses simultaneously, it also gives them an edge above others in the real job market.
A MBA degree along with a Masters specialized degree from a foreign University confirms an overall knowledge base of the students, who have received a world wide view on the subject unlike just the traditional content of the syllabus.
Big corporate houses also prefer students who have a greater knowledge base and double recognized degree status in order to easily absorb freshers in the job market and train them accordingly.
 Manav Rachna International University( MRIU), offers a 'Dual Degree'MBA program in collaboration with Edinburgh Napier University, UK.(ENU). This specialized dual degree program provides three modules namely building High Performing Organisation, Marketing within the Global Economy, Management and Organisational change will be delivered by ENU Faculty members in Faculty of Management Studies(FMS) campus itself.
Edinburgh Napier University is one of the highest education University in Scotland, with over 17,000 students from across 100 countries. It offers Industry informed courses with a perfect balance of theoretical and practical course program.On successful completion of the program students will be awarded MRIU as well as ENU degrees separately.
Thus a dual degree offers academic, professional, economical  and other time benefits to the students who can now specialize in a particular subject along with their graduation or post graduation Degree courses. 
This Dual Degree plan help students develop and apply creative problem solving, critical reasoning and strategic thinking skills to learn about global economic principles, strategic business issues, organizational management and realities of competitive market place. 
The cost of studying abroad and the value received by a foreign degree in Indian job market has been an important driver for students who now choose to achieve their dreams from the same University. It indeed saves them cost and makes the foreign educational degree affordable for Indian students. 
Prashant Bhalla, Chancellor of MRIU said" the dual degree program will enrich the existing qualification for the students and add further international dimension to the course.The program aims to provide an understanding of the dynamics of working in an organisation, in a rapidly changing environment by providing the right skill set and knowledge to its students".
Dual Degree programs have much more to offer in comparison to traditional learning courses. It gives a better exposure and makes one more competitive. The double benefit-double degree concept has best benefitted the students followed by the employing company and then the University faculties.
This is rather a structured method of calling for an exchange program among teachers and students via a subject course and thus allowing education to achieve a global reach.
Manav Rachna International University(MRIU)  offers this privileged platform to its students in order to increase their employabilty as well and to equip the graduates for a success in the global market.