We are pleased to launch our “New Age Careers” Career Guidance Program. Schools & colleges can contact us after reading the details below :
New Age Careers – Career Guidance Program
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Depending on your area of interest, you can choose a relevant sub-area. You will be applying concepts of Physics, Chemistry and Engineering to solve many of the environmental challenges. Pollution monitoring involves designing and building sensors to monitor air and water quality.
Many professionals also apply GIS/Remote Sensing to analyze satellite images of our planet to identify deforestation, soil erosion and impact of disasters such as floods and earthquakes.
Climate Science is another multi-disciplinary science that involves building mathematical and statistical models to predict weather.
These are all fascinating areas for science students.
Check our interviews of professionals pursuing Environmental Science
Environment – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
- Ability to see patterns in data
- Algorithm design for a real world problem
- Applying an interactive technology to explain a difficult concept
- Identifying cyber threats proactively before they happen and fixing them
- Ability to transform a theoretical lab based concept to a real world solution like Renewable Energy
- Very simple UX design for non-tech people who use technology
- Effective translational research for diseases like Cancer and Diabetes
- Big Picture Thinking – What would be the next big tech trend
- Technologies to address the Food sustainability problem through environmentally friendly supply chain
- IOT/Sensor/Wearable Technologies to monitor health
How do personality skills and interest relate to career choices?
This is a very good question. Let me explain with an example.
Lets say you love automobiles (interest). You read a lot of magazines about automobiles, you want to know about new trends, technologies and how different models and cars are different from each other. This is your interest driving you.
On the other hand, you are also an outgoing person who loves interacting with people, public speaking and love to build relationships with people instead of working by yourself in an office.
Now you could choose to combine your interest in Automobiles and your extrovert personality to work in Market Research in the field of Automobiles.
Market Research is an area that requires you to talk to people, read about automobiles, write articles and speak to the media about your analysis.
As you can see, you can build a career based on the combination of interest and personality.
On the other hand, there is another student who is interested in Automobiles but is more of an introvert less of an extrovert. He/She loves Physics, especially problems related to thermodynamics or aerodynamics. Give this person a problem and she will try to find a solution to it through conceptual knowledge and some collaboration.
You are lucky that you live in an age where you just have to have the interest to be something and everything is freely available – a Platform, Technology and a community to follow you.
There are so many controversial events happening around us in India and across the world. All you need to do is start blogging about events things that you feel strongly about, whether it is farmer’s agitation or Covid or the US elections.
This will be your playground for journalism ideas and also a part of your portfolio that will differentiate you when you apply for college admission or jobs.
Analysts from Wall Street are from extremely diverse backgrounds. There are PhDs, Engineers, MBAs, Statisticians, Pure Science professionals and many more from different areas of expertise.
But the common skill they share is quantitative ability coupled with analytical skills. Quantitative ability is a common thread across PhDs, Engineers, Statisticians and MBAs. So as long as you love number crunching and deriving key insights from those numbers, you would like a career in Wall Street though it is a lot of hard work.
Many economists have also done their PhD in Applied Mathematics and work on Equity Research (Buy/Sell Side). Here is an interview of one of them with a Science background
The food industry is a tough industry to crack because it is equally driven by creativity and technology. AI is generally not known for creativity. But who knows we might come up with AI algorithms to boost creativity.
In the food industry AI can be used to create new recipes based on a combination of ingredients, taste buds (smell, texture, bitterness etc) , nutrition. Since we have so many ingredients today, only machines can actually explore different combinations. Thats where creativity will help to segregate a good recipe from a bad one.
AR/VR could be used to virtually taste, sense and feel the texture of new recipes even without producing them to test their applicability in the real world. You could test everything from presentation, colours, flavour and taste through AR/VR hence saving lots of costs in actual production.
This is, assuming AI cracks the creativity and taste puzzle that is a big requirement in the food industry
Decision Scientists are more functional than Data Scientists.
Imagine an Automotive Company like Tata Motors hiring both roles. The data scientist will solely work with data to come up with visualisation and trend reports that demonstrate a pattern. His/her work might end there.
A decision scientist will interpret those patterns to translate them into business goals that help the company expand their business.
In some companies both roles could be merged into one and a few others they exist separately
Great question. Though everyone is trying to get into every field, very few understand the real world requirements.
- Linguistics – Local language machine learning provided by Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple SIRI etc
- Translator- Official expert hired by companies to translate books into different languages
- Interpreter – Lots of foreign companies who operate in their local languages need culturally sensitive language experts who can interpret their communications in other languages.
The biggest application of multi-lingual experts is in the areas of AI to help bridge the gap between linguistics, semantics and syntax so a machine can automate many of the mundane things
Data Journalism is the concept of using data to tell stories. So what that means is, you use raw data to back your stories. Yo do it by summarising the data, looking at patterns and find meaning in it.
But most of the time, the raw data is not in the correct format nor is it consistent and sometimes data comes from many sources. In order to consolidate the data, clean it, format it and make it consistent, coding will help.
Instead on relying on a technical team to do it, you can do it yourself by learning R or Python because it makes your job fast and easy.
As you start playing around with the data you start seeing more trends and better stories.
So yes coding is helpful !
What are the basic requirements for becoming an animator?
Animation is nothing but immersive storytelling using the power of technology. So you either have to be a highly creative visual storyteller or have fantastic grasp over the technology medium that make a story real on screen.
This leads to 2 different roles
- Creative Artist – People who are good at storyboarding, character sketching and overall conceptual fleshing out of story. This is very very difficult
- Technical Artist – People who take the visual story on paper and breathe life into it through technology – 2D/3D, Rigging, Modeling, VFX etc. This requires a solid visualization and computer science background.
Depending on your interest and skills you can decide the area that you are interested in. In either of these areas you need to have a vast portfolio to demonstrate your work, especially creativity.
Here are several interviews of animation professional and their career story
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews/
Data Science is a skill while Nutrition is a domain. Data Science can be applied to any domain that has data so you can make informed decisions.
So if you are interested in becoming a Data Scientist and Nutritionist, you can apply statistical methodologies to nutritional data to uncover new patterns and predict future occurrences related to lifestyle diseases, eating disorders and several other health threats.
There are many colleges offering this combination which is a very hot area.
To become an AI entrepreneur, you neither need a masters or PhD. You need a problem statement that no one has solved, convince yourself why you have the distinctive capability to solve it.
The vision is not enough, building a good team and executing the idea is key. Lots of people have a vision but cant execute.
A masters and PhD are great technical degrees, but entrepreneurship needs a very different kind of mindset, being tenacious and resilient on your vision untill you accomplish it.
Dont do a masters or PHD for the sake of entrepreneurship. Do it only if you feel you will get the required technical expertise to execute your vision.
Your vision should drive your technical expertise, not the other way !
What should I choose as my career? I am intereseted in 3D Animation but it has been only 2 months. But, I am really interested in it. I am currently in Class 11th. Also, what is the scope of getting a job in that field. My dream is to go to Pixar
Animation is nothing but immersive storytelling using the power of technology. So you either have to be a highly creative visual storyteller or have fantastic grasp over the technology medium that make a story real on screen.
This leads to 2 different roles
- Creative Artist – People who are good at storyboarding, character sketching and overall conceptual fleshing out of story. This is very very difficult
- Technical Artist – People who take the visual story on paper and breathe life into it through technology – 3D, Rigging, Modeling, VFX etc. This requires a solid visualization and computer science background.
Depending on your interest and skills you can decide the area that you are interested in. In either of these areas you need to have a vast portfolio to demonstrate your work, especially creativity.
Looks like you are interested in the tech side. Pursue a degree in Computer Science, learning animation skills on the side through courses and internships.
That way, you will have a solid foundation in programming and applied knowledge of animation.
How can I know if I am interested in pure science or engineering?
Its not that difficult.
Pure Science is exploration. You explore an area without knowing what the end results would be. Infact you may figure out after an year that you cant make more headway and switch to another area. Pure Science is more of discovery for the sake of building more knowledge in different areas of science.
Take Astrophysics for example. There are many of them who have discovered new stars or Exoplanets or even explained formation of Black Holes. These are areas of exploratory research which dont have any pre-defined goals. Getting funding is a challenge because the real world applications of your research are unknown.
On the other hand, Applied Research and Engineering have an end goal because they use the knowledge gained from pure science to innovate the discovery into an invention. Many industries are willing to sponsor these inventions through grants and if these inventions are successful they end up as an engineered product.
So if you love the thrill of exploratory research which can take you anywhere go for it. There is lots of uncertainty and less money. However if you are more comfortable with goals and want to work on more practical applications that relate to real world pick Applied Research or Engineering.
Check out an interview of a Pure Science Researcher
https://theinterviewportal.com/?s=astrophysics
Companies like Google, Amazon (not familiar with Flipkart) look for candidates who can think logically. You might not be a great programmer but if you can understand their business well you can still get in . The vice versa isnt typically true. Try to improve your thought process by breaking down a problem into smaller chunks an address each chunk through critical analysis.
Remember these are B2C companies. They dont have the luxury of requirements like a B2B firm has. Hence understand their business model well. You can prepare as follows
- What do you like about their products why?
- What do you think is missing and why is it needed?
- Write a few blogs on their space with your thoughts and opinions
- Try to understand what their next 6 months to one year will be. Do you share their vision for the future? If not why
You need to be opinionated. There is no right or wrong. It is very subjective and the focus is more on thought process. These companies want every individual to contribute in terms of making the product better. If you can show the interviewer that you understand their business well and where they should be in the future and why, they will be more than happy to hire you.
How do I apply for a job at a startup in India? Where can I find good information?
I think iam qualified to answer this question because i have worked only in startups during the past 10 years. It actually happened by accident . But then i got so used to startups that i didnt look beyond them.
Remember, startups typically dont use traditional channels like HR to hire (happens in few cases). They typically go by their network . However there is another way. Just search for top management’s email (CEO/CTO) and write to them about your interest in the firm and how you complement their vision. It works in most cases.
I can tell you that in all the startups where i secured a job, none of the firms were actively looking for a person. They hired me because they felt i could add value.
Keep looking for new startups in your area through top venture blogs (Yourstory or Vccirle etc) and read about their markets, vision etc and get educated.
If you have an idea in mind try to implement it as a mini-project so that you can show your thought process and clarity of vision during an interview. It could be a website based project or interesting blogs in the area of the firm that you are targeting.
Last but not the least , while it looks nice to be a part of a startup firm, be mentally prepared to slog 10–15 hours a day and hit the ball rolling the day you join. Many candidates do well in the interview and join, but arent mentally prepared to handle the pressure and leave within a week. You need to be a hands-on professional and should be able to get the job done however seemingly tough it is.
Can innovations be or can be created by artificial intelligence or only by humans?
Very good question !
Can AI create innovation?
To answer the question, lets define innovation. Innovation is the ability of the human brain to take all the learnings cumulatively, connect completely unrelated dots, build new concepts on top of existing knowledge which results in new knowledge.
Basically, innovation is the ability to create new knowledge from existing knowledge.
AI is currently at the stage where it is trying to replicate the human brain in trying to think and adapt. The day is still far off when AI can innovate, that is, create new knowledge from existing knowledge because that also requires humungous computational power and complexity to process all the experiential data that humans process and create new concepts.
Remember, the human brain is incredibly efficient in computing with less resources. It will probably take thousands of supercomputers to create innovation if all all it is possible !
If 90 percent of JEE aspirants are solving the same books, including the top rankers, then what makes the difference?
The difference is simple but complex.
You can study 100, 1000 or million books and solve millions of problems. But the ones who make it are the ones who can bring all their knowledge to work in those 3 hours during the exam. Its like searching for the needle (right answer) in a haystack (all the knowledge you gained in 15 years)
Remember, there are many in this world who cram for exams , prepare for interviews, work hard to make speeches. BUt very few make it. why?
But preparing and executing are 2 different things.
To be able to distill your knowledge and bring out only what you need for an exam in those 3 hours is something very few can do.
The difference is simple, isnt it?
What do you mean by offbeat career?
Let me tell you my perspective !
In the 1970s and 1980s , our parents worked probably 9 to 4, they chatted with their colleagues, visited relatives, took care of parents. Weekends were spent visiting people or going to beaches or movies.
There was not much competition and life was leisurely. When they worked, they worked. No stress, just living life. My dad did exactly that, he was a mechanical engineer and he used to work and never used to get stressed. No work at home. The only way i knew he worked was when he was away 9 to 5.
Now we work from home, so we have comforts. But we work from 5 to 9. We are stressed, so we need outbound programmes to de-stress. We have goals because though we work hard we cant meet them .So we start disliking work because its no longer living a life. We have hundreds of meetings every day , what we called strategy, scrum meetings. We love to meet our customer needs 24 by 7 even if our kids or parents needs arent met
So someone who finally got bored doing the above decided he wants to get back to the 1970–80s life which our parents lived. Simple , relaxed life. So he or she started pursuing photography, painting, music etc. That became to be known as “offbeat”
This is a a new term coined in the 2000s that relates to a concept 30 years old.BTW i even call Engineering offbeat, if we had pursued mechanical or electrical or civil we would be still doing offbeat stuff because its not IT!
Data Journalism is more related to Statistics than Maths. You need to look at trends in figures and narrate a story.
The best analogy for this is when sports commentators talk about different player statistics to make inferences about games. Similarly a data journalist uses factual data on different sectors to come up with inferences or assumptions.
For example you might calculate the total renewable energy supply in the last 10 years and compare it against total electricity demand in the same 10 years to show how the gap has increased or narrowed.
As you can see, the maths requirement is not too high level. As long as you can see patterns, connect the dots and narrate a story based on data, you can be a good data journalist without very strong maths skills.
How do I build a career after graduation?
This is a million dollar question !
Some people are very lucky , those who realise what they love doing pretty early on. They have encouraging parents who allow them to pursue their dreams.
But then there are the other bunch like me who wander aimlessly unable to figure out what they like. We either like everything or like nothing. so what do you do when one is like that.
Start thinking about your broad interests. Do you like sports, do you love designing things, you might like travelling or even love working on math problems
Draw a list of top few things you love doing and then try to filter down to the career options in that area. If you are a good writer and love sports, think about sports journalism. If you like maths think about pure math research
Next step is to figure out the basic degree needed for your interests . Since Sports/Journalism are not too structured you need build portfolios to show your capability. Start building it by blogging. For pure research you need to be very good in academics and score good marks
This is one approach
First lets understand what is the biggest problem facing engineering graduates today. Every corporate talks about graduates being unemployable.
Lets define unemployability.
- Inability to transform theoretical knowledge into real world applications
- Lack of big picture thinking? Why am i doing this and how does is meet my company goals?
- Inability to summarize complex technical jargon into simple language that a layman can understand
Now how do we address the above challenges?
In your first year you will be taking core courses , not much mechanical. But first try to understand why you are studying each course. Do research on the internet and read blogs from experts. If you are studying Computational Fluid Dynamics try to understand where it helps. Then you will understand the bigger picture of why it is needed for a mechanical engineer. Do this rigorously for each course that you learn.
Next, you will attend lots of labs where you will do practical work. Dont underestimate these labs. The lab is one place where you see equipment , try to use them and understand the readings and what they mean. Again, research the internet and grasp why these equipments are needed and how they complete a job. The biggest mistake i did was to underestimate the lab. They are your interface with the real world.If equipment is old gather a team and request your admin to get new equipment. Be a leader !
Start applying for internships from 3rd year. Shortlist 50–100 mechanical companies in your area of interest (like automotive or aerospace etc) and send emails to division heads expressing your interest, with your linkedin profile. A few of them will most likely revert. Dont underestimate the power of personal emails, they work much more effectively than waiting for an internship to turn up at your door, which will never happen.
Shortlist a few blogs in your area of interest and read them every week so you are updated on latest trends. For eg if you are interested in Eco vehicles select top blogs in that area and read them. Infact when you send emails to firms for internship, you can show off your knowledge in their area by mentioning some of their work (since you have read latest updates in that area). That will be a clincher.
Learn soft skills. First write your own blogs expressing your opinion on latest technologies. That will clarify your thought process. Try to become a thought leader in areas that you want to work in. This will draw attention from industry leaders. In order to do that you need to have good fundamentals.
Learn to work in teams, with your batchmates. Try to do a few real projects in the lab, collaborate in a team. Try to present the results and summarize it in a simple way so that even your dad or mom can understand what you did. Develop your soft skills
This will make you stand apart from the crowd !
Lets look at a few cases where AI can do better assuming the machine has all the relevant data.
Fraud Detection
This is a real scenario in every industry. Lets take Credit Cards. Detecting a fraud, in a real time, is very critical to minimise financial damage. It requires going through millions of credit card transactions to probably uncover 10 frauds. The scale of the problem is so huge that a human cannot solve the problem in a time bound manner, so we can take corrective action. Moreover, fraud detection requires looking at each transaction from multiple angles (demographics, location, time, amount, frequency and many more variables). As the number of variables to analyse grows in number, the capacity of humans to analyze millions of transactions across thousands of variables diminishes.
This is where AI is faster and more accurate
Healthcare Imaging –
Lots of cancerous tumors and other diseases are identified by expert doctors through Biomedical Imaging. But the ability to spot a tumor depends on the expertise of the doctor and his/her experience. In such situations, and as the cases grow in number, it is a better option to train a machine to understand the nuances of disease detection(by learning) and replace doctors. As more data is fed to the machine it also starts detecting outlier cases that only few doctors can detect. But the advantage here is that the machine is faster, cheaper and removes the human component.
There are more examples where AI can be a game changer and the common factor is scale. Doing things at scale and in a short time is where AI is better.
The last 4-5 months have been incredibly difficult for the world. Covid has wreaked havoc on everyone across all ages and demographics. Many have lost their lives, their loved ones and their jobs. And the scary part is, its not over yet ! But we also have the opportunity to learn from this experience by looking at things constructively.
I have received several emails from professionals about job opportunities. But i have to admit that i myself had to let go several of my employees due to the situation. However, i would like to share with all of you what i have learnt throughout my career. It might help someone.
In times such as this, we are always looking out for references to connect us to a new job or a new role. We spend our time waiting for that one opportunity that could solve all our problems. But we have to understand that everyone else who has lost their job is also doing the same. Instead, why don’t we see the Covid imposed lockdown as an opportunity to do something we always wanted to do which we couldn’t do earlier due to lack of time.
Remember, companies today are looking for employees who can think differently, make reasonably independent decisions without requiring micro-management.
Most of us have a laptop and internet connection at home. Take this opportunity to think about something you always wanted to do or how you could create something which could be of value in the scenario today. It could be a website or a blog or any initiative which allows you to execute your vision. For example you could create a website that technically analyzes all the different types of masks available and how they are different from one another and in which sites they are available. Use your creativity to define how you would like to add value to your target market. To start with, the idea behind this initiative need not be monetary, however it could lead on to something bigger which might trigger the entrepreneur in you. More importantly, this initiative will allow you to explore your ideas, implement them and build something from scratch on your own, which will give you tremendous confidence. Last but not the least, you now have a body of work that you can showcase to potential employers. Remember, showcasing your work is much more powerful than someone giving you a recommendation. Even if the work you did is unrelated to the role you are applying for, employers will note the fact that you took an opportunity and implemented an idea, however simple it was. It also leads the interview in a positive direction, talking about your thought process and approach. And finally, you could end up in a totally new career.
Never wait for an opportunity. Instead, create one for yourself by thinking of how you can use your skills and interest to add value to the world. Your efforts will never go unrecognized. These are the lessons i have learnt. I never used any of my past references for my next job because i didnt really get along with any of my managers. What really helped me was my own initiatives.
Corona is not just attacking our health but our mindsets as well. If it is Corona today it could be something else tomorrow. So lets be prepared for a future that is uncertain, risky and extremely dynamic.
There would be 2 answers to this question –
Ideally – Yes
Practically – No
If you try to define AI, it is nothing but the concept of replicating the human brain, which has about 1 Billion neurons. And these neurons in our brain perform computationally intensive tasks like thinking, innovating etc to come up with new things.
If you want a machine to replicate what a human brain can do, you would need to create a super monster machine with 1 billion neurons at the very least, to do something equivalent to what a human can do. And not to mention the complexity of the brain that needs to be replicated in processing. Moreover, the human brain is highly dynamic, which can formulate newer algorithms on the fly, in response to new and unknown scenarios (maybe what we call instinct)
Even if such a machine were to be built in theory (excluding costing and practical considerations), it would still have to deal with the limitations in our knowledge about how the brain acts when it innovates and its ability to process dynamic algorithms. Unless we know that, we cant build the algorithm in the machine even if it has the processing power.
So ideally a machine can be built with power, but unless we unlock the algorithms of our brain we cant practically use AI for inventions
I want to work for the poor, for animals, for the environment. I’m preparing to go for an MBA in marketing next as I feel marketing is the best way to kick-start a company. Is it the right decision?
I dont think you should do an MBA for your intended career. An MBA is good for a traditional career path in a business enterprise for profit.
You are looking for a social career. There are many universities in India that offer professional degrees for such careers with great internship opportunities. Infact all these programs require atleast a year of practical experience before you graduate. They are called Liberal Arts degrees and give you a complete and cross-disciplinary picture of the world.
Ashoka University and Aziz Premji University are very well known for your career path. Infact YIF program (Young India Fellowship Program) is great for you because the program selects top 30 candidates and puts them into an intensive practical training program in the social sector where you learn to handle problems that a typical country like India faces.
Why do you need a professional degree for social sector? Good intentions alone are not enough to help poor. The degree teaches you several aspects and tools to execute your strategy. One key aspect of social sector is getting grants. So when you get a professional degree you can also tap into your network to get the reach you need to make an impact.
However let me tell you that getting admission is not easy because these universities do not offer admission in the traditional way. They dont put too much emphasis on scores but more on your vision and passion for this sector which has to come out in an interview. The tuition fees is also high because the faculty is from top schools around the world (University of Pennsylvania, Science Po etc)
Biology is natural. Technology is artificial.
So when Biology becomes technology, artificial processes are built to imitate nature.
How does our body fight diseases, how to replace an amputated leg with Prosthetics, how to replace blood with artificial blood, how to artificially create Haemoglobin for patients, how to replace petrol/diesel with Biofuel, how to clean waste water with Bio-remediation strategies.
As you can see, the possibilities are limitless when you try to apply technology to imitate biology. Take a biological problem and see how you can replicate it using technology.
Artificial Intelligence is the larger umbrella concept under which Robots are designed and built, for specific purposes.
AI is a concept of mimicking human capabilities in machines.
But Robots can have different applications for personal, industrial or healthcare. All these applications require AI, but in a different way.
For example a Humanoid would be a personal assistant for a disabled person and needs to understand daily contextual language and jargons that a PA needs to understand.
An Industrial Robot, on the other hand, will be domain driven, like in SCM (Supply Chain Management or Manufacturing and will need to understand the work scenarios in those domains the way humans do.
Healthcare Robots will need to act as assistants to Doctors and Nurses, understanding medical language and semantics.
Though each of these robots operate differently , they all work under the concept of AI, which is behaving like humans.
No. Analytics is the concept of looking at past data and discovering trends. Like, you look at the sales trends for the last 5 years and discover that sales is always high in the last quarter of the year. This helps you make decisions.
ML is where you train an algorithm on data to identify trends automatically. So you train the algorithm to run on lots and lots of historical data so the model can identify trends. Once trained the model can make decent predictions on the future based on the past data on which it was trained.
So in ML, the model will automatically tell you to ramp up production in the last quarter to meet additional demand based on past data.
A Doctor and a Scientist are like 2 sides of the same coin. A scientist comes up with inventions to cure new diseases while a doctor understands the real world.
So, each complements the other. Many doctors who have gained significant experience in a Clinical Environment decide to go for a PhD to apply their real world knowledge in Drug Discovery, Vaccine Development and even Pure Research. This helps because now they not only do research but also understand the practical implications of that research.
And the other advantage is that, they can also do Clinical Research where they work in a hospital setting and able to test the efficacy of new drugs on a target group and hence expedite the drug development lifecycle.
Here is an interview of a Doctor turned Scientist
Computer Science is a Pure science field which establishes the fundamentals . By itself Computer Science is very broad to be applied in a specific area. It is like Maths and Physics. Though maths and physics are the foundations for engineering they are pure science subjects which are abstract and theoretical.
Just like mechanical engineering derives a lot from Physics in the area of mechanics, Robotics is also an area of engineering that derives a lot from Computer Science in the areas of Artificial Intelligence. Without physics you cant have mechanical engineering. Without computer science we cant have Robotics.
When a theoretical concept (AI) can be applied in the real world (Robot) it becomes an engineered technology (product) which is what we call Robotics.
Until then it remains abstract. Engineering has connection to the real world while Computer Science is a concept.
Can you get a job in PR and advertising after doing a bachelor’s in journalism?
Yes ofcourse!
Look at the commonalities between the 3 careers – PR, Advertising and Journalism. All the three require creative storytelling ability. Of these Advertising is the most challenging because of time and money constraints.
Having said that, PR is very closely related to Journalism. In PR you are a Corporate Journalist working for the company. Job is the same but a different role.
But in terms of variety, traditional Journalism is better but probably pays lesser. Among the 3, Advertising takes the cake in terms of variety and creativity but its a very difficult career to get into
Good question!
You have done your Bachelors in a very important and exciting field with lots of opportunities in the future.
To connect the dots, that is, to land a career where you can apply your foundations in Metallurgy in Automobiles, the biggest opportunity is in the area of Electricle Vehicle Batteries.
As you are aware the biggest challenges the world faces in implementation of Electrical Vehicles are
- Battery Range (100–200km per Charge)
- Battery Size
- Battery Charging Time
The answer to these questions lie in Metallurgical Applied Research in the field of Automobiles. Current LI batteries are inefficient and expensive, so a Metallurgical engineer needs to innovate a new hybrid material that can create disruptive technology that helps the world switch from current fuels to electricity.
Remember that Metallurgy also has the answet to Renewable Energy. Because the world need a vehicle battery material that can run on renewable power. If we still rely on traditional sources of energy (Fossil Fuel) we are creating immense burden on current infrastructure that is already crumbing.
So there you have your vision. Work on a wonder superconducting material that can take renewable source as input, store the power and run vehicles.
Its a tough problem, but if you are engineer you need challenges !
What are some great examples of Machine Learning in journalism?
If you think about the biggest challenge in reporting and journalism, it is what news to track.
Even though a newspaper might have great writers, if they arent able to report on the most trending and popular news the paper will not sell.
This is where machine learning comes in. Once you train a machine to spot most trending and popular news the algorithm invariably does a better job than humans because of scale. So now the burden of tracking the right news shifts to the machine and journalists can focus on the content.
Since writing is a creative jobs machines cant do it. But they can spot the most trending news based on historical data and emerging trends.
The other big area is to verify the authenticity of the news . This is a problem that machine learning can solve better than humans because it checks at several parameters like news source, time of day, content type and several other things to determine authenticity and it can detect fraudulent news quickly, saving a lot of time.
What does a sports engineer do? What careers can be pursued by a sports engineer?
Sports Engineering falls under a specific branch of engineering.
There are three areas where Sports Engineers have played a huge role in the progress and development of sports
- Bringing in cutting edge technology like Hawk Eye Camera systems in Tennis and also in Cricket to determine LBW appeals. In LBW the system tries to predict the trajectory of the ball if the batsmen wasnt in the way. If the trajectory led to the stumps the technology calls out. The Hawk Eye camera in tennis looks at balls that fall on the line from multiple angles (6 or more) and zooms in to show if its out or in.
- Sports Equipment like Racquets, Helmets, Balls all are highly engineered to meet sports goals and performance metrics. If you have noticed Tennis and Badminton Racquets have become lighter and stronger. These are all outcomes of materials engineering
- Sportsmen use several sensors to gauge their performance . These are the smart gadgets that are available today to measure heartbeat, blood oxygen and several other metrics to compete at the highest level in case of endurance sports like tennis and marathons. These are areas of Biomechanical engineering in Sports.
Here are several interviews of Sports Engineers and what they do
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What does a PhD in computer science do for your career in software? Is it ultimately worth it?
It depends on whether you do a PhD in Pure Science or Applied Science.
If you manage to get a PhD in Pure Science, which is incredibly difficult, it might still not get you a foot into the industry unless someone sees the link between your PhD and the possibility of applying in the real world, say Memory Storage. You could end up a Post-Doc.
If your PhD is in Applied Sciences (Robotics or Information Security or Deep Learning) then it is relatively easier to get into the industry because you will be applying your research skills to help commercialize a technology based on your research output. This is also a bit more interesting because you get an opportunity to apply your PhD to address real world challenges that you rarely encounter in a lab.
So if you planning a PhD for a non-academic career in software pick a problem in the real world that the industry wants to address and that should provide you a path. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and several other product companies hire PhDs who can address critical challenges in Software/Memory Optimization, Cloud Security, Deep Learning , Industrial Robotics and several other areas.
Is it worth it? Depends on what your motivation is? If you want to enjoy the challenge of solving something that has never been solved before and dont mind working in an uncertain environment with minimum guidance, PhD is for you. If you prefer a predictable job which involves working on things that are more familiar, Phd isnt for you.
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How can I pursue my career in IPR?
The Dept of Science and Technology , India conducts a yearly fellowship programme for women in the area of IPR which involves IPR training and internships at selected companies . At the end of the programme most of them are absorbed by firms based on eligibility and performance. Here are the details about the programme
KIRAN IPR Patent Fellowship Programme
Environmental Science allows you to explore environmental challenges through a 3 year degree (like BSc), understand the different areas and choose a path. For eg, she may start taking interest in Environmental Policy related decisions and pursue a career in Policy. Or she might decide to pursue further specialization in Green Infrastructure or Glaciology related to science. This gives more flexibility
Environmental Engineering is a 4 year degree that focuses more on the technical aspects of Environmental Conservation related to air pollution, water contamination and many other areas where you will be applying concepts in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and maths to address Environmental challenges.
Environmental Science is probably more flexible as it allows you to see challenges from not just technical perspective but also management, business and political. You can choose your area a bit later.
If she is interested in a more balanced perspective Environmental Science is good. If she wants to look at it from a technology view point engineering is better.
But there are many who have studied environmental engineering and ended up in policy.
Here are several interviews of professionals who studied various specializations including Civil engineering and ended up as Environmental Scientist
Environmental Science – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
Is there any field in engineering where we can study both the hardware and software of computers?
Robotics is a field where you can study hardware and software. Robotics is a combination of 4 disciplines :
- Mechanical (for movement)
- Electrical (for power)
- Electronics (for control logic)
- Computer Science ( software/algorithm for cognitive applications)
So as you can see the Electronic aspect of Robotics is the hardware and Computer Science is the software. Hardware is related to the sensors and other devices that control the Robot’s behavior. Even the Mechanical aspect deals with hardware related to the movement itself. If you want to make the Robot intelligent you can use concepts of Artificial Intelligence and Deep Learning to train the Robot. Robotics will give you a complete picture of all these areas
Check several interviews of professionals who pursued Robotics
Mechatronics/Robotics – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
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What is the future scope and career opportunities in the field of archaeology?
Archaeology in India is changing in a big way with the use of technology. Thermal Mapping, LIDAR and Magnetometers are being used to map ancient underground cities. Teh latest discovery of a Sangam era city in Keezhadi, Tamilnadu is grabbing the headlines everyday. Archaeology is not just about identifying historic artefacts but also about accurately estimating the age of these artifacts using carbon dating.
Another fascinating area in Archaeology is marine archaeology which pertains to shipwrecks. Since most of the trade in ancient and medieval years happened over sea, there is a huge potential for marine archaeology.
But one needs to be aware that the payscales for archaeologists are much lesser than what archaeologists are offered in developed countries. Though this would change with time you should have the passion for history and travel .
Here are a few career interviews of Indian archaeologists
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
Current slowdown in the sector doesnt mean engineers will be unemployed. Its a slowdown in demand from consumers, not demand from employers. Good engineers will always get work because the automobile sector will always grow except for the slowdown period.
The future for automobile engineering is fascinating because of the immense opportunities in mechatronics, electric/hybrid vehicles, biofuels and renewable energy. Just imagine the potential of a truly hybrid vehicle that can switch across biofuel, wind energy, solar energy or electric energy in a stored battery just the way our current wireless can switch across multiple wi-fi sources seamlessly.
These are the core areas where markets (demand) are growing and supply (engineers) is less. Current and future regulations will be targeted towards a phased reduction in usage of petrol and diesel.
So the next generation of vehicles needs automotive engineers specialized in alternate energy . The other area is in mechatronics which is based on the idea of “smart vehicles” which can use vehicle on-board data to optimize mileage, predict failures or breakdowns and invoke safety features in advance.
So this sector is poised for tremendous growth. As long as you have the skills , there is a huge demand
Here are several career interviews of automobile engineers.
Automobile – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
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What are some interesting careers in India most people unaware of?
Let me list out a lot of very interesting careers other than engineering and medicine. I have added links to interviews from professionals in each of the areas below and how they achieved their goals.
- Design- You can get into industrial design (Cars, Bikes, Consumer electronics etc), Graphic Design (Magazines, Logos etc), Transport design or fashion design – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Architecture/Urban Planner – There is s huge need for city architects , building architects and conservation architects who have a big picture view – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Journalist/Tech Writers – You can combine your love for subjects (Arts.Sports,Science etc) with writing and become a journalist.
- Statistician – Another multi-Disciplinary subject which applies numbers (Maths/Statistics) to research diseases (Biology), Sports (Cricket/Football/Tennis etc), entertainment (Box-office nos), Insurance Pricing (Actuary), Data Scientist – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Food and Beverages – You can specialise in Food and Beverage using a degree in Microbiology/Biochemistry especially Beer making, Wine making or Cheese making – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Disease Research – Microbiology degree will help you specialise in disease research for cancer, aids etc – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Agriculture and Farming – Work on cutting edge research that helps industry build technologies to bring additional food to the evergrowing population – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Aviation/Space – Be an AstroPhysicist or AstroBiologist researching outer space particles and life – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Arts – Work as an Art Curator, Conservator or Restorer if you have a liking for Art – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Entertainment – Animation, Illustration or comic drawing if you want to combine your talent for drawing with movies – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- computers – If you love hacking, you can become an ethical hacker – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Environment – You can also become a Geologist or Marine Biologist or Climatologist to get involved in conservation of the planet – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Pure Sciences – If you interested in maths or physics or chemistry or biology you can pursue pure science research – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Hospitality – Hotel management or chef or molecular gastronomist is another area – Offbeat, unusual, unique, unconventional & interesting career interviews !
- Finance/Economics – If you love numbers and human psychology you can specialize in economics – Developmental, Behavioral or Consumer. Other areas in Finance are Investment Banking , Fund Management etc – Economics – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What are some of the basic skills I should learn before I graduate from a bachelor’s?
Once you graduate you are going to enter a world where you will compete against lakhs of aspirants like you. Wherever you apply you will have to distinguish yourself from the rest. If you dont the employers can never notice you . This is the reality of jobs in India.
So there are 3 basic skills you need – 1) Read, 2) Do and 3) Learn.
“Read” does not mean reading for your exams. Whatever your area of choice , read blogs, articles, magazines and current news about that area and build your armoury of knowledge. That will be your weapon.
Reading is not enough unless you apply what you read. Corporate world does not value knowledge unless it is applied to address a problem. So start looking for real projects (through professors) or internships (through internet, social networks etc) to apply your knowledge and gain experience and unleash your weapon of knowledge.
Remember, college is a period of learning, inside and outside the campus. This is the time when everyone will be tolerant of your mistakes because you are a student and not a professional. Make mistakes and learn from them. This will be your training ground. Take part in seminars, conferences and other public events to learn as much as possible in your area.
By the time you graduate and if you have sincerely worked towards building these skills it will show in your profile and help you distinguish yourself from the crowd.
The “Hot Jobs” trend will come and go. Nothing will remain static. As they say, the only constant is change. Be prepared for it
To be successful you need to develop what are called “Transferable Skills”, skills which overlap across multiple jobs. Transferable skills are “Communication”, “Big Picture Thinking”, “Attention to Detail”, “Analytical Skills”, “Emotional Intelligence”, “Situational Awareness”, “Research”, “logical Thinking”. These are a few examples.
These are the skills that are more difficult to acquire relative to domain specific skills.
Transferable skills allow a person to be much more adaptable to new careers due to shared commonalities . For example, if you have great “Communication” skills you can switch from marketing to sales or journalism. If you are good at researching things, you can be successful at many careers such as market research or consulting or public policy.
Build your transferable skills and focus on adaptability while keeping an eye on trending domains such as Biotechnology, Robotics, Sustainability, Renewable Energy, Genetics etc
Just imagine for a moment, what defines each of us, every species on this earth? What is our unique code?
Its our genetic code – DNA.
If we were to try to write down our genetic code, it would probably be billions of pages and take more than 50 years.
If we wanted to create a database of the genetic code of every species of the universe, the first step is to extract the DNA from every species and store it in a huge repository. We cant even imagine how big it would be.
Thats only half the problem solved. Now we want to be able to process all that data and try to understand how each species is different, their traits, why some have more immunity? So many questions can be answered.
But processing this data requires the most powerful supercomputers in the world. SO now we have a combination of computers running algorithms on biological data (DNA) to uncover all the different traits in different species, also called genetic diversity.
This is one application of Bioinformatics – the application of computer science to address biological problems.
The day will come when you can get your sequence decoded in minutes (using bioinformatics) and be given a personalised medicine that will adapt to your DNA and protect you from illness.
bioinformatics – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
How important is machine learning for bioinformatics?
Very important. Machine learning is very critical when the scale and complexity of the challenge is huge.
There are 3 areas in Bioinformatics where machine learning plays an important role
- Universal Vaccines – Diseases such as TB have multiple strains (150 or more) which attack millions of people every year. Though vaccines have been created for individual TB strains, there is no universal vaccine. A universal vaccine uses the power of machine learning to understand unique signatures of TB strains and protect individuals from past strains and new strains through pattern recognition. Infact these universal vaccines are going to address diseases such as cancer as well which attack in many forms.
- Disease Prognosis- Machine learning is being used to automatically analyze blood sample, tissue samples and medical images to identify diseases such as cancer, alzheimer’s based on training. The computer model is trained based on lakhs of samples of healthy and diseased patients to accurately predict the disease based on new samples.
- Personalized Medicine – In the future machine learning models will take in our genetic code and suggest medicines that will address our health issues. The model will take into account the unique characteristics of our genetic makeup and design the most effective medicine for us. This model is also built by training based on samples.
Which elective should I choose between interaction design and electronic commerce as a computer science bachelor’s student?
Interaction design is a generic concept that deals with designing online interfaces for websites keeping in mind different types of audiences. Interaction design applies to gaming, e-commerce, education, healthcare and several verticals that need to engage their target audiences through compelling design. The goal is to build interfaces based on a deep understanding of how different customers are likely to interact on the platform.
Interaction design also applies to laptops, mobile phones, ipads, smart products like Smart Watches, Smart Vehicles and other sensors to design communication interfaces.
Companies like Apple, Samsung hire interaction designers to design Hardware and Software.
Its a fascinating field because it touches so many aspects of a business starting from market research (who are the users?), consumer behavior (how do they use the system?), psychology (why do they do what they do?) and economics (how do you manage their behavior?).
Electronic Commerce is specifically related to transacting and business on the web. It is a vital part of interaction design.
Interaction design will give you more opportunities to apply your skills across different verticals including E-commerce. Every interface will need good interaction design to interact with their end customers and communicate their content.
Is sales a good career after engineering?
Remember that your career is a product of two attributes – Interest + Skills.
An ideal career is one where you can use your skills to do a job that interests you. Since you have done engineering i assume you have acquired technical skills and since your interest lies in sales, you can utilize your technical skills in a sales and marketing role.
Here is an interview of a mechanical engineer who transitioned into sales from an R&D role and doing really well
Golf Equipment Sales Manager Interview
What are the career options after BA in English?
With a BA in English you can go for the following careers
English Major careers
- Journalism
- Publishing
- Creative Writer (Social Media Marketing)
- Advertising/Copywriter
- Art Critic /Writer (If interested in arts)
- Film critic
- Food Blogger
- Sports Writer
- Digital Marketing
- Theater
Please check our portal to look at several interviews from professionals who pursued careers above
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What is the scope of cyber security jobs in India?
Any infrastructure related jobs in IT have tremendous potential. Especially since most companies are now hosted on the cloud. In India, the potential is very high.
However this a field where you learn skills by practising it rather than studying. Please check a few interviews of professional who have made a career in cybersecurity
CyberSecurity Specialist Interview
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What is the best answer of why you want to join non technical field when you are doing engineering?
Engineering by itself is meaningless if it cant serve the needs of a business. You can build the greatest product in the world.
However if you cant communicate its strengths (Marketing) or retain the people who built it (HR) or ensure smooth running of the production line (Operations) or have a great team of people to provide support it (Customer Service) or get enough funding to expand operations (Finance) , your product will remain nothing but a dream.
Engineering shows you the technology to build things. However to launch it in a market is a completely different animal. A career in engineering doesnt mean you always have to build things. It also means the ability to leverage your skills in the above areas to successfully launch a product.
In an interview you need to communicate that you will still fit into a non-technical field in an engineering firm that needs those skills.
You need to show that you are a well rounded individual who can seamlessly move across the functions in an organization
What are the best career options after the MSc statistics?
Statistics has applications in so many domains. Any industry which requires modelling to predict the future based on historical data will require applied statisticians
- Healthcare – BioStatistics
- Sports -Scores Statistics
- Oil and Gas – GeoStatistics
- Finance – Actuarial Statistics
- Public Policy – Research based statistics
- Environment – Weather Modelling
- Technology – Data Scientist
- Media based statistics
Please see interviews from various statisticians here
How good is HR as a career in India?
HR as a career in India is not as advanced and strategic as HR in the developed world
With the exception of a few firms, HR in most firms is just a titular head. They dont play a key role in strategic hiring or grooming talent. Again, as i said this is based on my experience in firms that i worked. There are exceptions ofcourse.
However HR in US is extremely advanced. Firms like Walmart have HR professionals using Data analytics to make strategic decisions on succession planning, Goal Management, Performance Appraisal and Variable compensation.
HR infact drives the culture of the company to make sure the right people are hired, retained and compensated, all based on data analytics
This will take a while to come to India
What are the future prospects and scopes after completing BS-MS from IISERs?
IISER is a very well known research institution especially for pure sciences. For a while IISERs were under the shadow of IITs. But now, due to the well known alumni network they have a unique position of their own
But when you talk about future prospects from these kind of institutions , its a bit difficult. These are exploratory institutions where, as you learn , you discover your interests and change your course. What you learn is the fundamentals of maths and science and then you discover what you want to do next
Please read through detailed career interviews of IISER alumni and where they landed up
Indian Airforce Meteorologist Interview
Neuroscience Researcher Interview
Honda CAE/NVH Engineer Interview
Mathematics Predictive Modeler Interview
Mathematics Predictive Modeler Interview
What are the Job opportunities for forensic odontology in India?
There are very few career opportunities in India . However if you are ok with travelling abroad there are a lot of options
Please check one of our interviews for a career path
Forensic Odontologist Interview
What is the scope of metallurgical engineering in India?
There are several different approaches to answering this question.
You can either get into research where you push the boundaries on what is possible and what is not.
Or you can do engineering and apply the research output to address an industrial problem like Aircraft design.
In both cases the scope is enormous. What we all need to realise is, pretty much every product that we use in our day to day life whether its a phone or a vehicle or a laptop or a spectacle relies on the power of metallurgy.
Some of the questions Metallurgical researchers and Engineers ask is, how can i discover a superconducting alloy or the lightest metal or the most rust proof material for Aircrafts.
Remember that luxurious world would cease to exist without inventions and applications of Metallurgy.
Here are a few interesting interviews of Metallurgy professionals regarding their career paths
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What are the career options for radiation oncology in the present day?
There are 3 different areas you can pursue
- As a specialist physician or surgeon focusing on Oncology working with cancer patients on chemotherapy/radiotherapy
- Biomedical Research – Researching the effects of radiation/chemo on human body and working on developments to mitigate the risks
- Medical Physicist – working with radiation equipment as a technologist in the oncology dept
Can a student who has taken PCB and not maths have a career option in physics?
Let me ask you a question. If you do not study English after school , that is, in college, will that stop you from writing? No, because you have built a foundation in school on English. Similarly PCB, PCM is just a way for the boards to segregate you because its easy for them.
That does not mean that if you didn’t opt for maths or physics you can never pursue a career in that subject. I know hundreds of people who didn’t pursue maths after 10th but ended up as Computational Scientists who build math models.
Education till 12th teaches you the most important thing – The ability to learn when needed. It will probably take you 2–3 months to pick up the maths needed for physics.
So don’t worry about PCB or PCM, they don’t mean much in the outside world !
AI based education is based on the concept of truly personalized education the way we teach our kids. At first we start explaining certain concepts to them and then give them problems based on those concepts. If they score well on the concepts we go to the next level, a little more advanced. On the other hand, if the child answers the problem incorrectly we explain the concepts again and probably in a simpler way till the child gets the problem right.
This iterative loop repeats itself for all concepts until the child learns. This is what we humans do and is called Adaptive Education and works really well.
Now if you want to scale this for all kids who have very different grasping capabilities you need a very smart system that can act as a personal coach to each child, understanding their cognitive level and adapting itself to each child until the child learns, all in an automated fashion. That is AI base Adaptive Education.
Though this is still far away we are getting closer
What is the best career advice for the new generation in 2020?
History has repeatedly shown us that there is no shortcut to building a career. For the last 20 years service companies like Infosys, TCS, Wipro hired in droves but you can now see the result of that hiring in the form of layoffs.
There is no substitute for good old careers like those in core engineering, research, agriculture, design, economics, environment etc. As long as the going is good, IT will support people. But when the economy tanks and there is no financial activity, IT is the first career to take a beating because it is a secondary career dependent on core careers. You cant survive with software 🙂 Nor can you survive on money. You need food to survive.
Remember, technology works on the assumption that basic careers that fuel the economy are healthy. If that assumption is not met, like is the case today (in Covid times), you will see what you see today, massive unemployment. But the unemployment is much lesser in non-IT carers.
So, my advice is, do thorough research. Dont take the easy way out by joining an IT company just because they are paying you more than a company in core agriculture. Do your homework and try to understand the value of your work to society and that will tell you how reliable your job will be if the economy were to go down.
For example, if you get a job as an automotive engineer in Bajaj and even if you are laid off, your chances of getting a job sooner or later is much higher than if you got laid off from an IT company.
Is AI a substitute for hard work?
ok Lets see if it really is a substitute. Let me take an example here.
Lets says you are a very lazy guy! You dont like to work. But i guess we all have to earn to survive. So you take up a job in the agricultural sector where you have to segregate Coffee seeds based on the quality of the outer cover. Now that is a very tedious task since you have to go through almost 5000 seeds a day and if you fail to segregate the bad seeds you dont get paid.So not only do you have to work hard but also make sure the work is high quality.
So you think of an easier way. Why not build an AI tool that can segregate the seeds for you while you relax . So you not only get your work done accurately but also segregate 7000 seeds and get paid more.
So you start working on an AI system. In order to train the system to segregate seeds based on quality, the system needs atleast a million seeds with properly labelled data on which seeds are good and bad, split probably 70% and 30%.
You don’t mind those efforts because you know when the AI system starts functioning you can enjoy your life and get paid while the machine does all the work. So you begin getting the training data for the machine. At the rate of 5000 seeds per day, it will take you 200 days to get the data. So instead you decide to work overtime to segregate 7000 seeds a day, to get the training data available in 150 days. After 150 days of hard work you put the system to test only to realise that the accuracy is only 65% because your training data left out a few unique seeds that looked bad but were actually good. Due to this, your management penalised your work, which was actually done by AI. But you could have done a better job.
So now you spend the next 2 months working on more training data for the AI machine which was not included earlier. You work harder, segregating more seeds than what you normally do. You test the machine again after 2 months and notice an increase in accuracy to 80%.
As you have continued doing this, it has taken almost 3 years for you to get a point where the AI has been performing as well as you have. And in these 3 years you have worked twice harder to generate training data for AI.
So it has taken you almost 5 years and much more work than you actually do to make an AI system that is at best as accurate as you are. But it is at this point where the efficiency of the AI system starts to surpass human capabilities and starts showing accurate results on probably even 1 million seeds a day, much more than what a human can do.
AI, or no AI, it still is hard work, especially if you want to build an AI system with more than 98% accuracy which can also handle the edge scenarios that humans can handle !
How do brands use artificial intelligence in marketing?
If you really think about Marketing, what is the biggest challenge?
The question is, how do i identify the target segment that needs our product and pitch our value to them. Many marketers squander lots of money pitching products to segments that will never buy from them. Reason, it is very difficult to achieve Personalised or Individualised Marketing. That is, instead of focusing on segments, focus on a group of people who will definitely buy from you based on your message
Now, with data being generated everywhere on buying habits of customers, their preferences, lifestyle, income etc, there is immense potential to profile customers. So, if you have an AI algorithm that analyzes this massive data and adaptively learns, it can predict with very good confidence, over time, as to who will be a potential customer, thus reducing marketing costs by focusing on individual customers instead of segments.
As more and more data is consumed by AI, including the customers who bought or did not buy the product, AI become better with richer data and helps marketers target customers with precision
Can I become a mathematician and a doctor at the same time?
Yes ofcourse,. Many doctors are now realizing the power of clinical research, that Is, working as a doctor and researcher in a clinical setting (Hospital), thus closing the gap between research and its impact on patients.
You can do your PhD as a doctor on Computational Biology (Bioinformatics) which focuses on many computer intensive areas such as Genetics, genomics and Next Gen Sequencing which require you to work on mathematical models.
You can also be involved in Clinical Trials of new drugs where you test the efficacy of new drugs on volunteers and use statistics and mathematical models to uncover positive and negative effects of drugs.
There is no stopping a doctor from pursuing research, because it only strengthens your foundations in pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation.
Are machine learning jobs still in demand in 2020?
Yes, Machine Learning will be a sought after area in 2020 and later. But we need to understand the hype factor as well. Just because there is a huge demand for ML there are startups springing up everywhere claiming to apply ML .
So let me give you a few examples of sectors where ML will play a major role
Manufacturing – With decreasing lead times and aggressive GTM (Go to Market) strategies, firms are applying ML to identify probable failures in advance and fix them instead of suffering downtime. This is Predictive Analytics
Healthcare – The healthcare sector is using advanced ML and Deep Learning techniques to identify tumors based on medical imaging. This is going to be a gamechanger to accurately identify the signature profiles of Covid, Cancer etc to get to an early diagnosis.
Retail – Big retailers like Amazon are using object and image recognition techniques to prevent malicious content from being uploaded by retailers. These are done through ML techniques based on identifying abnormal patterns and images. As more and more people buy on the web ML becomes a powerful tool to make the buying experience safer.
Financial/Credit Card Fraud – Banks and Finance companies use ML to identify abnormal patterns based on transactions and account behaviour to flag fraud.
As you can see these are all legitimate and impactful applications of ML in addressing problems at scale that humans cannot address. There are many such use cases in other sectors that need ML. But we need to be cautious in not overselling the concept of ML for frivolous applications
Which universities in India offer a bachelor’s in science in computers specialized in artificial intelligence?
You will not find a Bachelors degree with a specialisation in AI because a Bachelors degree is meant to be a broad and foundational qualification, to be able to explore what you like and dont like. So it would be a good idea to do a Bachelors in either Computer Science or Mathematics if you want to eventually get into AI.
You can then follow it up with a specialisation in AI at the Masters level where the focus is purely on AI.
Is AI an existential threat to humanity?
To explain how AI is different from machines that exist today, Let me illustrate a few examples.
Machines are efficient, accurate and consistent. Though humans are inferior to machines in terms of efficiency, accuracy and consistency, we more than make up for it with our cognitive (thinking) capabilities.
What is AI?
Let us say a question is posed to a Human and a Machine, “Can you provide a rough location of the country Israel?”.
Now lets look at the answers by a human and a machine.
Machine – The machine uses geographical data to get the coordinates of Israel in terms of Latitude and Longitude and gives the precise result in a few seconds.
Human – The human brain, on the other hand, does not have access to coordinates unlike a machine. And let us assume that the human has pretty much no idea as to where Israel is. But having seen news on the war between Israel and Palestine and understanding that Palestine is an Arab state, the human understands that Israel must share a border with Palestine, an Arab state and hence must be situated in Middle -East.
So while the machine is very fast and accurate, the human uses cognitive logic to make connections and discover the location. This is what AI needs to be able to do to replicate the human brain. A machine that works like the brain and that can make non-linear connections to uncover new insights.
Let us take one more example.
As kids, we all learn the english alphabets as the first step in our long and tedious educational journey. We are taught letters “a,b,c….z” untill we learn to recognize them anywhere and everywhere.
Now, if a machine were shown the same alphabets, lets say, “a”, would it recognize “a” everytime? Not really ! As long as the “a” is written in exactly the same way the machine was originally taught, the machine would recognize it. However if the shape of “a” is a little more curved or straight the machine would fail to recognize it.
Humans, on the other hand, learn to recognize any alphabet in any shape as long as it fairly resembles the alphabet. The human doesnt need an exact match in shape. This kind of learning comes from experiential learning in which the brain adapts itself to recognize things similar to what it has seen earlier, which machines cannot do.
This is where AI needs to be if it were to be successful in replicating the human brain, not an easy task by any stretch
Now to the next question, how will AI impact the future?
It will take AI a very long time to replicate what the human brain does. And whether AI will accomplish that itself is a big question.
But over the next few years, a lot of mundane, routine and monotonous, non-cognitive jobs will be taken over by AI. Manufacturing jobs, service level jobs, dangerous jobs and labor intensive jobs will be slowly taken over.
On the other hand, high level jobs that require creative thinking, negotiation, leadership, artistic talent, innovation, problem solving, analytical skills, critical thinking skills, interpersonal skills will always require humans.
Now coming to the last question, how will my career be affected by AI?
Let us look at a few careers that will not affected by AI in the near future. Salesperson, pilot or a Designer. If you look at each of these careers they have a unique characteristic related to humans, cognitive thinking which is negotiation for a salesman, situational awareness for a Pilot and creative thinking for a designer. These are all highly cognitive skills and connot be replaced by AI.
So for students, pick each potential career you like and try to evaluate if there are any unique/cognitive characteristics of that career that give you an advantage over a machine. Always pick a career that places a very high importance on an individual’s capabilities and that will ensure you are safe.
How can big data be leveraged with AI technology?
Let me give you a simple example.
Let us assume you want to build an AI based machine that can replace a physician with 20 years experience. That is, an AI machine that can make a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment in the same way that a physician with 20 years experience can do.
Now lets assume the physician to be replaced has 20 years experience and the physician saw 50 patients everyday for 20 years. So, the physician saw 50*365*20 patients, which 365000 patients in total. This is what we call the physician’s experience. For every patient the physician looks at a lot of contextual data about the patient (history, age, illness, gender etc) as well as accesses medical content to refer as needed to make a diagnosis that he/she isnt sure of. This is what we call “20 Years of Experience” which is very difficult to replicate. And then there is the academic knowledge of the Physician from his education.
Now if we want to build a machine to replace the physician, we need to feed the machine at least the data of 365000 patients that the physician saw or the minimum number of cases that cover a wide range of diagnosis scenarios and combinations, as well as the details of diagnosis for each patient including the contextual details of each patient and any external content used for reference. That is, we need to feed the machine 20 years worth of data (what we call “Big Data”, which includes all the data used by the physician in each case, including structured, unstructured and semi-structured data to make a diagnosis) and train the machine, based on past data and results, to make the right prediction with a reasonable confidence. This is called Experiential Learning based on Big Data. This data for 20 years could run into TerraBytes and once the machine has learned, it can make reasonable predictions similar to a physician with 20 years experience.
This is the concept that AI works on. The more the data or the cases it is exposed to, the better the model is. So in theory, you could feed the model with cases handled by several physicians and create a richer model. But the key difference with AI is, you are not telling the machine to categorise. You are training it to behave like a human and think like a human, which is purely unsupervised learning, and go beyond, by identifying patterns never uncovered before. When a machine gets access to data equivalent to the entire experience of a senior physician, which is what we call “Big data”, the assumption is that the machine makes lesser mistakes and is able to detect new patterns that probably even a well experienced physician might miss. Since the processing power of a machine is much more complex and scalable, several non-linear relationships might be uncovered by the machine, like a relationship between Covid and BP !
Now if you extend the same concept to every sector you can see how AI can leverage Big Data to make decisions .
Career advice: How do I find the right career for me?
The question is always ” How do i know what career to pursue?” . I myself faced this dilemma as a student. I realised how difficult it is for a 9th or 10th std student to make a decision. So here are some pointers in descending order of priority.
Longevity – A career lasts for almost 40 years from the time a student graduates from college at 21 to retirement age around 60, almost 39 years. A successful career is like a marathon run. If your goal is only to reach the end you are missing the point. Marathoners enjoy their run because they cherish the journey and in the process reach the destination. So start trying to identify what kind of activities you like to do. These activities are not hobbies but what we call latent or hidden interests that stay with you from childhood to your later years. The more you like an activity the more inclined you are to stick to it for a longer time like a career. Remember that successful careers last long because of interest.
Skill – While longevity is important we all need to understand that the world is competitive. Any career requires a degree of skill to compete. Skills are of two types – 1) Innate or natural and 2) Acquired. For example a naturally gifted debater has potential to become a good lawyer due to innate skills of debating. However the student would also need a professional degree in Law where they are taught about cases, arguments, drafting and mooting in courts. These are acquired skills. So students need to evaluate the areas in which they are naturally gifted and hone their skills through education (Acquired Skills) . Remember , a Diamond is a stone that needs treatment before it shines. Identify your natural skills like writing, sketching, storytelling etc because a career based on those skills will give you the edge in this competitive world
Benefit to Society – A student might be very good in solving mathematics problems. However if solving those problems have no impact in the practical world those skills cannot be put to use and are worthless. However if the student can use their skill to solve problems that the world faces (Pollution, Climate, Insurance, Health etc) the world values those skills and there is a market for those skills. Always try to evaluate to see what value you can bring to the world by putting your skills to use. The more impact you make with your skills the more marketable you are.
Vision – When you have taken into account your interests (longevity), skills and benefit to society you gradually start building a vision or bigger picture of what you want to do and breaking it down into a short-term and long-term plan. A vision, simply put, is a direction in which a student wants to take his career. As we all know today’s world is extremely fluid and we all want to be flexible to change course slightly though the direction that we want to go in remains pretty much unchanged. This direction or vision is defined by the above 3 attributes.
Money – And finally the most important attribute that we all need to survive in this world – money. A lot of students make the mistake of asking “What career should i pick to make a lot of money?” . Thats the wrong question. Instead, adopt the above approach and you will see that money follows. Money is the byproduct of a good vision which again a byproduct of the first three attributes.
To give you an example, lets say you have a lot of interest in food and cooking (interest) and you are good in Chemistry (Skill). You can study Food Science and become a Food Technologist. Your Vision is to create new food that is healthy and tasty (Benefit to Society). You can see how all these attributes come together to form a Vision .
Look at any successful career and try to map it into the above attributes and you will see a pattern. Once you start thinking through this framework it will be very easy to select a career and follow that path.
Should I pursue a career in data science or quantum computing?
It depends on whether you like theoretical or practical work.
Quantum computing is abstract but has profound implications on the future of computing. What researchers are doing in quantum computing today is going to make a big impact on addressing big problems in Next Generation Sequencing, Robotics and Deep Learning, any technology that needs almost infinite resources to solve real problems that require extreme computation.
Data Science, on the other hand, lets you see results. You will work on uncovering trends in the data. You will create and tell stories around trends and help predict a model for the future based on the historical trends. Its a lot more fun because the results of your analysis can be seen and you can iteratively work on the feedback. Data science applies to every vertical that collects data, so you can work across several verticals because you are a data expert, you understand the universal data language.
The industry needs more Data Scientists, but research needs more quantum scientists because advances in quantum computing will provide a better infrastructure for data science and other computationally intensive problems.
Figure out what you want
How do you know that political science is right for you?
A career in Political Science requires a great level of interest and some very specific skills.
If you like reading the newspapers and knowing about world events then you have the interest. That is the easy part.
The tough part is the skill. Political Science, unlike other careers, requires quite a bit of Critical Thinking skills. When you look at political developments around the world, lots of trade deals are struck, military agreements are signed and diplomatic treaties are discussed. A political scientist needs to be able to put them in perspective by trying the understand how these developments affect different countries and the people. And this is not a simple issue.
For example, lets say a Uranium trade deal is signed between India and Australia where Australia agrees to supply unlimited Uranium to India. A political analyst needs to be able to evaluate how this deal will positively and negatively affect India and what would the effect of that deal on countries like Pakistan or China and how are they likely to react.
As you can see, your analysis will require fantastic writing and communication skills along with critical reasoning. In order to do a proper thought provoking analysis you need to know that current state of affairs in different countries and how world developments affect their functioning.
You need to put things in “context” and do your analysis and your thinking has to be very strategic. Its like trying to slice and dice the language of a deal and try to infer the pros and cons. These skills are very very rare but very useful in several careers like law, policy etc. Its also called “Situational Awareness”, the ability to connect seemingly unrelated things into a cohesively convincing framework.
This is related to the role of a political analyst.
A political analyst could be employed by media companies or government or NGOs to analyze different political scenarios in context.
A political scientist, on the other hand, works with the government and diplomats to craft political, international and diplomatic agreements to meet well defined objectives of growth or trade or social development. There are many such objectives.
Taking the Australian example above, Australia would also employ a Political Scientist to advise them on various diplomatic strategies to engage with India or other countries. The scientist would analyze the impact of supplying Uranium to India and the benefits that Australia could get from India in exchange for the Uranium deal. These kind of agreements need thorogh analysis
Though the roles of the political analyst and political scientist differ, they share the same skills, which is critical reasoning and analysis.
The best way to know if you will like this career is to read the papers and follow news regularly and see if there are certain areas that you like and then try to write a blog on those areas based on current developments. This will give you an idea of your interest and skills.
Here are some interviews of Political Science professionals about their career path
Political Science – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
How do I choose a career path/education path when I don’t really have a passion for anything?
Yes it is not easy. Infact, many of the students who did go on to pursue careers of their interest were fortunate enough to meet mentors . Some others followed their parent’s footsteps.
For those who have no clue, let me suggest a few ways. If you cannot select something that you like, try to exclude things that you dislike strongly. For example, if you hate sitting in a desk all day or attending meetings, dont go for IT (software).
If you dont have too much patience and are not too people friendly dont opt for becoming a doctor.
SO try to exclude careers that you dont like based on interest and skills.
If you love travelling and love nature, think of becoming a Conservationist or Wildlife Biologist. If you are an outgoing person , you can get into Sales or Publicist careers
To have a successful career one needs to focus on the following :
Longevity – A career lasts for almost 40 years from the time a student graduates from college at 21 to retirement age around 60, almost 39 years. A successful career is like a marathon run. If your goal is only to reach the end you are missing the point. Marathoners enjoy their run because they cherish the journey and in the process reach the destination. So start trying to identify what kind of activities you like to do. These activities are not hobbies but what we call latent or hidden interests that stay with you from childhood to your later years. The more you like an activity the more inclined you are to stick to it for a longer time like a career. Remember that successful careers last long because of interest.
Skill – While longevity is important we all need to understand that the world is competitive. Any career requires a degree of skill to compete. Skills are of two types – 1) Innate or natural and 2) Acquired. For example a naturally gifted debater has potential to become a good lawyer due to innate skills of debating. However the student would also need a professional degree in Law where they are taught about cases, arguments, drafting and mooting in courts. These are acquired skills. So students need to evaluate the areas in which they are naturally gifted and hone their skills through education (Acquired Skills) . Remember , a Diamond is a stone that needs treatment before it shines. Identify your natural skills like writing, sketching, storytelling etc because a career based on those skills will give you the edge in this competitive world
Benefit to Society – A student might be very good in solving mathematics problems. However if solving those problems have no impact in the practical world those skills cannot be put to use and are worthless. However if the student can use their skill to solve problems that the world faces (Pollution, Climate, Insurance, Health etc) the world values those skills and there is a market for those skills. Always try to evaluate to see what value you can bring to the world by putting your skills to use. The more impact you make with your skills the more marketable you are.
Vision – When you have taken into account your interests (longevity), skills and benefit to society you gradually start building a vision or bigger picture of what you want to do and breaking it down into a short-term and long-term plan. A vision, simply put, is a direction in which a student wants to take his career. As we all know today’s world is extremely fluid and we all want to be flexible to change course slightly though the direction that we want to go in remains pretty much unchanged. This direction or vision is defined by the above 3 attributes.
Money – And finally the most important attribute that we all need to survive in this world – money. A lot of students make the mistake of asking “What career should i pick to make a lot of money?” . Thats the wrong question. Instead, adopt the above approach and you will see that money follows. Money is the byproduct of a good vision which again a byproduct of the first three attributes.
To give you an example, lets say you have a lot of interest in food and cooking (interest) and you are good in Chemistry (Skill). You can study Food Science and become a Food Technologist. Your Vision is to create new food that is healthy and tasty (Benefit to Society). You can see how all these attributes come together to form a Vision .
Look at any successful career and try to map it into the above attributes and you will see a pattern. Once you start thinking through this framework it will be very easy to select a career and follow that path.
You can check thousands of interviews of students who pursued offbeat careers
What should I do with my future? I’m currently studying in class 12th and have opted biology as my stream. Now I’m entirely lost and confused. What career path should I choose?
In India it can be very difficult for a 12th student to shut down all the noise around you. Everyone will point you towards one career, become a doctor. Biology means doctor and doctor means Biology.
In most western countries people make decisions around their career at 21 or higher, but in India its much earlier. So its normal to be confused about Biology at 17.
Let me try to clarify the different options
There are basically three or four areas in Biology based on your interest
Clinical – Doctor, Surgeon, Physio, Speciality, Public Health
Research – Drug Research, Genetics, Bioinformatics, AstroBiology
Conservation & Wildlife Biology,
Biotechnology & Biomedical Sciences/Engineering
Each of the above areas has its pros and cons. It depends on your interests and where you believe you fit in.
Clinical careers are the most in demand but less interesting relative to research careers.
Research careers are very demanding but interesting because you will be working on something the world has never seen. And if you crack the puzzle , it inspires you to solve a bigger problem.
Conservation & Wildlife Biologists track animal behaviour and their environments. They are also called Ecologists. This career is critical to conservation of endangered species.
Biotechnology/Biomedical is a tremendously exciting career which uses the workings of nature (biology) to engineer new products such as Bio-fuels, Gene edited plants, Artificial organs and several other products that replicate nature.
Here is a list of all careers in Biology
Biology – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
Take your time. Biology is such a fascinating subject, its a pity that we have narrowed it down to just being a doctor. Read the interviews above and you can get inspired by many such students like you who didnt get intimidated by people around them and carved their own path.
Is a degree in engineering worth it knowing that most of them will end up working for IT in India?
Fantastic question you asked ! Infact a million dollar question! why? why? why?
Why does a Trainee Fighter pilot end up driving a Two Wheeler?
Why do they think driving a Two Wheeler is better than flying a Fighter Aircraft?
Its not easy flying a Fighter. Its certainly risky, it requires tremendous skills and it also requires a sharp mind. Very few, one in a million fly a fighter.
On the other hand, driving a two wheeler is less risky, its easy and its not bad even if you are one in two people. Infact probably driving a two wheeler pays more than being a fighter pilot.
Never mind that you trained to fly, but even driving a two wheeler is driving right? So what, iam still driving, that is, on the ground.
That defines our mindset. We dont mind driving an Ola if it pays more. However we forget how important engineering is to our economy, to our job satisfaction and to the entire world we live in.
We forget that IT is only a secondary occupation that just supports other primary occupations. IT can never make things, it will always be a software and virtual !
To make it worse our education system has glamourised IT by making software the No 1 choice in Engineering choices. Top students are handed over Computer science and the next level selects Electronics or Mechanical. So whats the message conveyed here? Computers is better than Mechanical. Is that what we want our students to learn? That one stream is better than the other? This year my niece wanted to take chemical engineering in ICT and she got the seat easily because the competition is for IT. What about metallurgy? Oh, its the last degree chosen because its of no use in real life right? Metallurgy and not useful? Are you kidding me? Thats the respect we give to engineering. But we still want to travel in safe Aircrafts (marvels of Metallurgy), fastest cars (marvels of Mechanical engineering), live in structurally strong houses (Civil eng) and use the latest and most powerful computers (Electrical engineering) but let someone else study them because it is tough.
But remember this, IT can survive with mediocre people because its just software. But streams like Metallurgy, Mechanical, Electronics need talented engineers because they build things used by real people. These streams cannot afford to have mediocre people building things.
To be frank we are a generation that takes the easy way out knowing there will be a few rare people who will take the tough and challenging route, Core Engineering ! The day we realise how satisfying the tough route is, we will get more students flying in the sky and really enjoying what they do.
How can an engineering student get core branches in India considering most of companies are software based?
Thats a very good question and iam happy you asked. Everyone who does engineering takes the easy way out, go for IT !
Its not easy getting a core engineering job. Employers look for experience and freshers dont have experience unless they get a job.
Start thinking about this from the middle of your second year in engineering. This is the time to explore sub-specialization in your chosen field. Lets say you choose mechanical. Try to read a lot about areas with mech – 1) Automobile or 2) Environmental or 3) Biomechanical or 4) Robotics.
Try to secure an internship in each of these areas on a rotational basis. Its not easy getting an internship. If you want to get into automobiles, get into vehicle building competitions like SAEBAJA where you will build an actual vehicle. You get loads of experience.
If it is the other areas, get to Linkedin and shortlist companies working in your areas of choice and contact via Email. Introduce yourself, explain your interest, give an overview of your vision and state that you want to learn and would like an internships. If you send 100 emails you are sure to get atleast 5–10 responses and one internship opportunity. Lots of IITs and IISC offer felloships for candidates.
After doing 2–3 internships, by end of 4th year you should be reasonable sure of what you want to do. With your internship it is easier to get a core job or apply for Masters.
With several internships under your belt, even if few core companies come to campus you have the best chance because you have real experience and it is rated much higher by employers than marks assuming your scores are decent. You can even apply outside.
Hope that helps
How can a Computer Science student help in Environmental Engineering?
Computer Science is a multi-Disciplinary field. What that means is, it uses data to address challenges in other fields.
Weather Modeling – Scientists build simulated models to predict and forecast weather based on Maths and Physics using Computer Algorithms.
Climate Modeling Professional Interview
Remote Sensing – Many Researchers are using Remote Sensing tools to help farmers with rain patterns and soil moisture analysis. These computer models tell farmers when to add water to soil based on computer data thus saving water.
Agricultural Remote Sensing Expert Interview
Air Quality Monitoring – Several Scientists are working on building low cost and robust Air Quality monitoring tools which use power of computers to quantitatively estimate the extent of pollution based on chemical composition of Air.
Air Quality & Pollution Research Professional Interview
Oil Spills – As we are all aware one of the biggest threats to Marine life is the Oil Spills due to offshore oil extraction. Many gas companies employ Geo-Statisticians to predict the path of oil spills once they occur to take quick corrective action
Oil Spill Researcher Interview
What are job options after doing be from biotechnology?
The name itself has the partial answer. Technology replicating Biology. We all know that Biology is all natural phenomena involving nature. So if we have to build something artificial that can replicate nature thats Biotechnology.
Manufacturing Biofuels, inventing new vaccines or manufacturing new drugs to cure Cancer, Diabetes etc are all marvels of Biotechnology.
This field has tremendous potential because researchers have barely scratched the surface of what is possible. With Global Warming being a grim reality we need Biotechnologists to eliminate fossil fuel and find new ways of manufacturing biofuels.
Biotechnology even involves replicating how our human body functions. Some researchers are even working on extracting Haemoglobin from plant extracts. This could solve several disorders lika Anaemia.
Here are several interviews of students who pursued a career in Biotechnology
Biotechnology career interviews
What are the chances of an average student getting in ETH Zurich?
Ok i will tell you my story.
I consider myself an average or slightly above average student as far as marks are concerned. I didnt do very well in my Engineering final year. But down the line i got a really strong motivation to do an MBA because i liked the big picture. I wrote GMAT in 2000 (long back ) and got a decent score of 670. Though i applied to several top schools (Sloan, Chicago, Wharton, Stern etc) i got waitlisted only at NYU Stern.
They gave me a a deadline to convince them why i should be admitted. Having lost all hopes, i decided to give this one last try. I sat down for a few days and really thought about why i needed this degree , how it would help me and what my vision was. I wrote my mind honestly on 2 pages of paper and faxed it !
I had no hopes of getting it until i got an admission letter a week letter informing me that i got into Stern!
Moral of the story . You can be average in terms of marks. But you have to have an exceptional vision in terms of what you want to do with the degree. Thats what US and European Universities look for, a solid personal statement. It tells them what you already know and what you want to learn to get to where you want to go !
Many of us lack in that area because we are all groping in the dark. Remember , from the perspective of the University, they want students who go on to achieve something and bring name to the University. You need a vision for that!
Go ahead and write to yourself honestly and you can convince ETH Zurich!
After an MSc in computer science, can we do a job as a data scientist?
Being a Data Scientist doesnt require any specific qualification . There are MBAs, scientists and bachelors degree holders who have become data scientists because they had strong logical thinking and had a very solid background in statistics and programming backed by real experience.
The only thing needed is real world experience. Join as an intern in a company and work for 6 months with data science teams and understand the big picture. Learn R programming on the side since that is the primary tool.
Typically an undergraduate course is never specialised. It gives you a broad foundation for a reason so you can always change in your masters.
So if you want to pursue specialization in Brain (Neuro) get a basic degree in Biotechnology or Biochemistry or Chemistry or Biology and then do an integrated PhD in Neuroscience at NBRC (National Brain Research Center). You can also try ta TIFR or NCBS
If you want to focus on Brain Rhythms (EEG), you can also do a B.E in Electrical and Electronics and then go for neurotechnology or neuroscience to explore the electrical impulses of the brain.
Which engineering branch requirement is more in today’s modern world?
Environmental Engineering is the branch which is most needed today and for the future because we have so many environmental challenges. Lets look at this field
Weather Modeling – Scientists build simulated models to predict and forecast weather based on Maths and Physics using Computer Algorithms.
Climate Modeling Professional Interview
Remote Sensing – Many Researchers are using Remote Sensing tools to help farmers with rain patterns and soil moisture analysis. These computer models tell farmers when to add water to soil based on computer data thus saving water.
Agricultural Remote Sensing Expert Interview
Air Quality Monitoring – Several Scientists are working on building low cost and robust Air Quality monitoring tools which use power of computers to quantitatively estimate the extent of pollution based on chemical composition of Air.
Air Quality & Pollution Research Professional Interview
Oil Spills – As we are all aware one of the biggest threats to Marine life is the Oil Spills due to offshore oil extraction. Many gas companies employ Geo-Statisticians to predict the path of oil spills once they occur to take quick corrective action
Oil Spill Researcher Interview
If you have been a business analyst, you should be able to pick up data science as a career because most companies now capture data and you can request an internal transfer to data science after learning basic concepts.
Machine learning is an extension of data science where you build models to predict the future based on supervised or unsupervised learning. You can also use Kaggle to download data and use R programming to create some simple statistical models to play around with data science.
What is the difference between artificial intelligence and software engineering?
AI comes under the larger Software Engineering umbrella, because AI is another example of software engineering which is like an Artificial Brain.
AI uses the principles of software engineering, which is algorithmic design to make scalable models based on computer programming principles
What are some of the good but lesser known professions?
- Defense Analyst – Land Warfare Analyst Interview
- Ethical Hacker – Ethical Hacker Interview
- Digital Agronomist – Digital Agronomist Interview
- Patent Analyst – Patent Analyst Interview
- Sports Scientist – Sports Scientist Interview
- Energy Infra Lawyer – Energy Infrastructure Lawyer Interview
- Audiologist – Audiologist Interview
- Astrophysicist – Astrophysicist Interview
- Automotive & Visualization Designer Interview
- If you want more, check here – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
What skills do scientists need to master in 2020?
I think the most important skills scientist need for the future is the ability to visualize how their research in the lab can apply to the real world. It is also called “Big Picture Thinking” .
Our world needs more real world inventions that can solve the big challenges of environment, fossil fuels, pollution etc . While we have several conceptual solutions in the lab the ability to practically apply it at scale and in a cost-effective way is the real solution
So, “Big Picture Thinking”, that is, visualizing a practical solution is the key skill
What are the opportunities for commerce student in data science?
Data Science is nothing but statistics applied on real data to make decisions. And when those decisions relate to business or consumer behavior/psychology , it becomes commerce and economics.
More and more companies are hiring data scientists with commerce background because they are more economics focused and using data, can help arrive at key decisions. Companies like Amazon and Google hire lots of data scientists with economics background to make sense of humungous amounts of data to uncover new business opportunities, customer trends and incentivize buying
What are the career options after a Bachelor’s of Social Work (BSW or B.A. (SW)?
Most Social work jobs require a Masters degree especially if you are looking to grow in the social sector. The biggest scope today for social jobs is in corporations who hire CSR professionals (Corporate Social Responsibility) to work with NGOs and divert corporate funds to these NGOs to achieve corporate social objectives.
Corporates hire masters degree holders and the demand is growing. Also if you have a masters degree you have a good scope to take up jobs in global organizations like UN, UNICEF etc
Here is an interview of a CSR professional
Corporate Social Responsibility Professional Interview
I am passionately curious for science but I love Law, which career should I choose after 12th?
You should take up a career in Patents and IP. Most Pharma and Manufacturing companies doing research need the services of a patent professional to help protect the IP and help commercialize the research. For that they need patent professionals who have a solid science background and exposure to patent law to understand how the technology can be protected from infringement and also the complex details of underlying technology.
Here are some links to interviews of patent analysts
Ofcourse an MBA in Finance has a much wider scope but requires a solid foundation to get good jobs. A Finance MBA can open many doors in corporates in Treasury, Risk Management, Financial Analysis, Equity Research etc. But it requires very good Analytical/Quant Skills backed by solid internships in relevant areas to understand where your interests lie.
Digital Marketing, on the other hand, doesnt really require an MBA because its a much narrower field and there are many opportunities to learn it on your own or through a short-term course. Though it has a lot of potential, there is a lot of competition as well and you need to have very strong practical knowledge in the area related to web analytics, online ads, Adsense/Adwords, SEO, SEM, PPC etc.
In the long run a finance degree will take you ahead as long as you have strong foundations. But if you were to ask me which is tougher to pursue, it would be Finance because jobs are rare and choosy.Finance will be higher paid because there is more demand for finance jobs though skill supply is less!
Hope this helps
Why do most Indians go abroad for research while we have some premium institutions in the world?
If you compare the ratio of premium institutions in India to the number of research professionals relative to the same ratio in US or Europe, India will have a pretty low ratio.
Because the number of premium Institutions (IISc, IISER, TIFR, NCBS etc) are very low in number relative to the ones abroad.
So given India’s population the number of good institutes is not enough to admit qualified professionals, resulting in cutthroat competition , the way it is for any opportunity in India.
So lots of good researchers go abroad , not because they arent as good, but because thee are more opportunities and a better way of selection that is more meritocratic.
To explain to you let met me take an example of our prime minister Narendra Modi.
For the last one year there have been lots of debates on his global travel schedule and also its impact on FDI (Foreign Direct Investments). Some say he travels a lot which costs the exchequer and some say it benefits the country. As you can see there is a lot of subjectivity in the news reported . So how can we make the analysis much more data driven and factual.
Enter the Data Journalist
Lets say the journalist decided to investigate this. First by extracting all the travel data of the PM from last one year and clean the data so that they can tabulate it and determine exactly how long the PM travelled in a year. Now they can conclude clearly, based on factual flight data, that PM travelled say 80% of the whole year.
Now the next question. How can we determine if the travel benefitted the country. Data helps again. Lets say we try to determine if any major deal was signed between India and a country that PM travelled to in the last 6 months. That duration helps correlate the deal with PM travel.
Now looking at data we can say that PM travel did not have effect on deals signed.
So data journalism removes subjectivity from news and makes it more factual and accurate as long as we treat the data properly. Data Journalism requires good skills in number crunching, interpretation and statistics.
Please review the career path of several data journalists in link below
What type of scientists are accepted at CERN?
CERN is very well known for Particle Physics. Its a pure science track focused on discovery of new frontiers in space and its origins.
So if you are interested in pure science you should aim for a PhD track in good schools since many of them have tie up with CERN where you can do internships and then switch to a long term track.
Here are a few interviews from Cern scientists where they talk about their career path
What does one do after a degree in liberal arts in India?
The entire world of careers is divided into – Engineering, Medical, Commerce or Arts. And of course, the third option is seldom considered a career ! And even if it is considered a serious career the assumption is that one must be very good at drawing or painting or designing ! If it is Arts, it must be about creativity!!! However, nothing can be further from the truth.
Liberal Arts – The Diamond in the Dust
Which engineering branch and its subject content match more with the metallurgy and materials science?
First thing one needs to understand is, material science is a larger umbrella under which metallurgy and materials engineering comes.
That is,materials science is a study about materials across all disciplines including physics, chemistry and biology. Metallurgy relates to metals and alloys and their applications in various industries.
Engineering and specifically metallurgical and materials engineering focuses on designing and manufacturing materials for industries like aeronautics, space, automobile etc.
So if you are interested in applications of materials science in engineering go for materials engineering or metallurgical engineering.
Here are several interviews of professionals in above careers
Metallurgy – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
Materials – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
How can I choose my career after class 12? I am a student of science.
What career option would be the best in today’s world after doing PCM in 11th and 12th?
I have added links to interviews from professionals in each role so you can understand what each role involves.
- At a micro level you can attain a Master’s in Energy Engineering abroad and take employment in the industry. You will be working on the most recent renewable projects for Solar, Wind etc Sustainability Professional Interview, Renewable Engineer Interview
- If you want to be involved in something more impactful you can pursue macro-level courses at policy level (Enviromental Policy, Master os Sustainable Development Practice). In this role, you will work on formulating policy and also finding ways to incentivize people to adopt renewable energy. You will travel a lot. Energy & Sustainability Expert Interview , Environmental Policy Expert Interview
- If you like to be involved in the creative side of renewables you can also take up a communications design kind of a role not only working on renewable energy but also raising awareness of global challenges through creative ads and other media sources. Sustainability Professional Interview
What are the career options after B.com?
Here are the career options for BCom
See interviews or above careers here
Careers excluding engineering and medical
1) Actuary (Maths, stats,economics)
2) Financial Engineering (Maths, computers)
3) Animation (Maths,Computers)
4) Ethical Hacker (computers)
5) Cryptographer / security (Maths, computers)
6) Equity research (maths, finance)
7) Economics( behavioral, developmental, tech economics)
8) Sports statistics (maths, statistics)
9) Environment (sustainability models)
10) Political/defense/Policy analyst (English, economics)
11) Journalism (English)
12) Law (english, economics)
13) design (arts, drawing, sketching, maths)
14) arts (foreign languages, archaeogical history, museology, curator, critic, writer, restorer)
15) cybercrime security (computers)
16) advertising (english, communication, creative skills)
17) corporate finance
18) investment Banking
19) Hedge funds
20) Investment Analyst
21) Hospitality (Hotel management, Bar tending, Chef, Mixology)
22) BigData Analytics (computers)
26) Statistician (maths, statistics)
23) Natural Language Processing (computers)
26) Statistician (maths, statistics)
24) Deep Learning (computers)
26) Statistician (maths, statistics)
25) Image/Voice recognition (computers)
26) Statistician (maths, statistics)
27 Psychologist (Sports/Clinical/Behavioral/Oc
cupational)
28 Sociology (English, Economics)
Can I do engineering if I have the 12th passed in PCB? If yes, can you tell me the scopes and benefits?
Yes you can opt for a very interesting careers such as BioMedical engineering and medical physics. This stream is the application of physics to solve biological problems.
BioMedical engineering has a huge potential in the future in teh following areas
- Artificial organs and regenerative techniques using tissue engineering and other cutting edge technologies
- Medical diagnostic devices and equipment for disease scanning like MRI, CT-Scans. You will work on developing new scanning devices using physics concepts
Please look at several interviews of BioMedical engineers to see their career paths
Arts has several options. Let me list them below
- Animation
- Illustration
- Art Curator
- Art Critic
- Art Photographer
- Art Columnist
- Design (Product, Industrial, Consumer)
- Historian
- Archaeologist
- Anthropologist
However unlike Engineering, since Art is very abstract, you need to have a portfolio of work or some kind of internship. There are much fewer opportunities but growth potential is huge.
You can check out the career path of art professionals at
How can I choose my career path in medical?
There is a very common misconception that the only path available in medical is becoming a doctor. Here are several other options. I have also added links to interviews from professionals in each field about their careers
- Biomedical Professional. Area related to artificial organs, tissue regeneration and prosthetics. Designing and building devices that mimic human organs. Biomedical Careers
- Medical Physics. We have several equipments around us in a hospital. Whether it is a sonogram or X-ray machine or an ECG these are all marvels of medical physics. Medical Physics
- Disease research. A doctor can only save one life at a time. However biotechnologists, microbiologists and biochemists can save millions of lives by diagnosing disease causing organisms and developing cure for these diseases much before it reaches a doctor. Disease Research
- Geneticist – Interested in Next generation Sequencing or unlocking the genetic code? Work on developing personalised cures for every individual by understanding their gene structure . A great combination of biology and computers. Its also called BioInformatics. Genetics
- BioStatistics- Clinical trials require processing huge amounts of historical data to identify how a drug affects a large population across age, culture, geography and gender. Biostatistics involves a combination of biology, maths and statistics to study trends and patterns that help in clinical trials. Biostatistics
- Doctor – A front end professional who is very talented but gets a lot of credit because of better visibility
Being a fresher and a pass out in 2018 batch, will I get a job if I do any data science certification course?
Data Science is extremely application oriented. It requires a good bit of domain knowledge coupled with data analysis and statistical skills. While the technical aspects can be learnt (statistics) the application part requires considerable experience working in the industry.
Remember, Data Science is not just about number crunching. There are many professionals as well as technologies that will slice and dice data and calculate computational models based on data, but the industry needs people who can interpret the data and make recommendations.
So as a fresher you can take a lot of courses. But unless you work as an intern in a company that uses data science you wont learn the art of performing data analysis, interpreting the results and making intelligent recommendations.
The science can be learnt, the Art has to be experienced !
What are the various fields other than medical and engineering after 12th?
Let me list out a lot of very interesting careers other than engineering and medicine. I have added links to interviews from professionals in each of the areas below and how they achieved their goals.
- Design- You can get into industrial design (Cars, Bikes, Consumer electronics etc), Graphic Design (Magazines, Logos etc), Transport design or fashion design – Design
- Architecture/Urban Planner – There is s huge need for city architects , building architects and conservation architects who have a big picture view – Architecture/Urban Planner
- Journalist/Tech Writers – You can combine your love for subjects (Arts.Sports,Science etc) with writing and become a journalist.- Journalist
- Statistician – Another multi-Disciplinary subject which applies numbers (Maths/Statistics) to research diseases (Biology), Sports (Cricket/Football/Tennis etc), entertainment (Box-office nos), Insurance Pricing (Actuary), Data Scientist – Statistician
- Food and Beverages – You can specialise in Food and Beverage using a degree in Microbiology/Biochemistry especially Beer making, Wine making or Cheese making – Food and Beverages
- Disease Research – Microbiology degree will help you specialise in disease research for cancer, aids etc – Disease Research
- Agriculture and Farming – Work on cutting edge research that helps industry build technologies to bring additional food to the evergrowing population – Agriculture and Farming
- Aviation/Space – Be an AstroPhysicist or AstroBiologist researching outer space particles and life – Aviation/Space
- Arts – Work as an Art Curator, Conservator or Restorer if you have a liking for Art – Arts
- Entertainment – Animation, Illustration or comic drawing if you want to combine your talent for drawing with movies – Animation
- computers – If you love hacking, you can become an ethical hacker – Hacker
- Environment – You can also become a Geologist or Marine Biologist or Climatologist to get involved in conservation of the planet – Environment
- Pure Sciences – If you interested in maths or physics or chemistry or biology you can pursue pure science research – Maths
- Hospitality – Hotel management or chef or molecular gastronomist is another area – Hospitality
- Economics – If you love numbers and human psychology you can specialize in economics – Developmental, Behavioral or Consumer. Other areas in Finance are Investment Banking , Fund Management etc – Economics
What are various career options after doing M.Sc in mathematics?
With a Maths degree you can look at the following careers
- Data Science/Statistics – The science of using data to predict trends and patterns. This applies to any industry with data and heavily relies on statistical/math modeling.
- Financial Mathematics – Also called quantitative finance, this is a great combination of mathematics and finance. You would use complex maths modeling to predict the performance of stocks and derivatives which are used by institutional traders.
- Astronomy- This is more research oriented. Maths plays a key role on analyzing our galaxy and studying other planets.
- Biostatistics – Drug companies rely on biological data to statistically validate clinical trials. This requires application of mathematics on healthcare data
Please look at the interviews below from professionals who pursued a degree in mathematics to learn more – Maths
Which type of career should I choose if I am fond of travelling and that should be something prestigious?
“Prestigious” is a very subjective word. But let me define what i think is prestigious.
If the work you do is going to make a significant impact on solving challenges the world faces and passes on an immediate benefit to humans, animals and the world around us, i would consider such a job prestigious . Infact i would think it is Awe-Inspiring.
Geologists, Wildlife Biologists, Remote Sensing experts, Food sustainability professionals, Climatologists, Oceanographers and any other environmental sustainability professions fall under this category.
They also travel a lot not just for conferences but also to analyze samples in exotic/remote places like arctic, conduct collaborative experiments and make observations to make the world a better place.
You can review below several interviews from environmental professionals to understand their career path: Environmental Careers
What is the market value of a B.Tech, M.Tech, and Ph.D. qualified person?
Lets think about market value for a moment. It is a price attached to the person who creates something of value that the market consumes. Note that it is not a price attached to the degree of the person.
So , a B.Tech, M.Tech or a Ph.D wouldnt matter unless they created something of market value.This applies to professionals who work on salaried jobs as well.
To put it in perspective , Larry Page (Stanford PhD) has a market value in billions today because of Google which is a perfect example of a great commercial product.
However there are many PhDs who probably graduated with Page who never came out with anything that the market valued commercially.
Hence, being a highly qualified Phd or engineer is one thing and having a market value is another thing. Business acumen and technical expertise are rarely present in one person . People like Larry Page are very rare.
What this tells you is you can be an insanely smart person ending up with a PhD but if your research cannot address a real market need your market value will be zero even if your PhD is from MIT or Stanford.
What are the career options after a BA in Geography?
Think of one of the most usable products in recent history . Ofcourse maps have existed since centuries.
However google maps revolutionised the way we travel and look for new places.
Geography is our interface with nature. Geography binds us. We have seen so many natural disasters like floods, climate changes, earthquakes etc. Farmers have sustained losses due to less agricultural produce.
What is the answer to these problems?
Remote Sensing
With India launching its satellites in space, lots and lots of big data is being captured regarding every single location in this entire world and the characteristics of each location.
The GIS (Geographical Information System) can collect, store and aggregate the data and enable geography professionals to understand the results and provide meaningful information regarding floods, earthquakes and natural disasters.
Not only that, remote sensing can also help analyse the content of soil for moisture and suggest specific actions to improve crop productivity.
Remote sensing can also help trace ground water in specific areas and solve water problems
The next biggest disruption is going to be to use of location data (climate, soil, terrain, altitude etc) to solve and predict geographical issues like floods, earthquakes etc
Please read through careers of geography professionals through their interviews Geography Careers
What are the career options after 12th standard?
As a student think of your interests and skills. A combination of these 2 attributes will lead to a fulfilling career.
Lets say you love sports (interest) and are very good at Maths (skills) you can become a Sports Analytics Professional, someone who analyses statistical data related to sports players, win/losses and also makes predictions for the future
If you love nature and are great in biology, you can become a wildlife biologist, professionals who work on animal conservation.
Similarly if you are passionate about the environment and are at good at physics, you can become a climatologist or geophysicist, those who work on environmental issues like global warming, pollution etc
If you enjoy reading and writing you can go for journalism. There are several other options to pursue
Please go through several interviews from professionals who built their career based on their interests and skills – Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews
I really want to be mentally tough. How can I achieve this?
Mental Toughness comes from taking risks. Taking risks comes from a need to do something that is going to give you a massive benefit to the extent you ignore the threats that come with it. At the end of the day it is going ahead and doing things knowing the consequences and preparing for them
Most people do not take risks, why? mental toughness. When you start thinking of the bad outcomes before taking risks, you decide not to take the risk.
For example, no one quits a job before they have a new one in hand. Why? Fear of unemployment. But is that such a big risk? Its actually not. But when you start thinking of your EMI, what society would say, your ability to get another job , you decide the risk isnt worth it. However, if you think about the positives, a long vacation, time with family or spending time on your hobbies you feel the risk is worth it.
Hence start with smaller risks, try to ignore negative outcomes, face the outcomes with smarter tactics (like acquiring new skills while unemployed) and you will realize you have built the toughness needed. Slowly start taking bigger but calculated risks and you will build your toughness.
Is it worth doing an M.Tech in Statistics (Data Science)? I have already done MCA and working in C++. Is it a good idea to leave this job and go for an M.Tech in Data Science?
It depends on where you want to end up.
A C++ job is more related to core platform development and a technical stack. You will never come near business unless you go through a management hierarchy.
A data science job is heavily business focused. You could work on any and every domain because every domain captures data.
A data science job is also incredibly interesting due to the range of possibilities working with Big Data and uncovering new trends and patterns like a detective.
Not to undermine C++ but if you are looking to really add value to the bottom line of a business with your skills, Data science is the way !
Is it always practical to make our career in the field of our interest? Can’t we do good in other professions through our hard work?
It is not always practical to make out a career in a field of interest. Infact its extremely rare ! Whether its sports or entertainment (where most of our interests lie) very few people manage to make a career !
However this doesnt mean that you throw away your interests and pick a career and work hard on it day and night ! Even if you cant make a career out of interests pursue it as a hobby. Make enough time for it , give it equal priority relative to your career if not more.
People tend to get frustrated when they start dedicating their entire lives to their careers and regretting later that they didnt pursue their interests.
You never know when you might get a chance to switch and convert your hobby into a career. Photography is a great example.
Is data science a good career path for someone who is creatively inclined?
Creativity might not be a major skill requirement for Data Science. Data Science requires logical skills.
Creativity is great when you have a very open ended career like art which is open to interpretation.
However Data Science typically starts with a clear cut business problem that needs to be structured and logically solved. Since it involves maths and statistics the skills might not fall into the ambit of creativity.
Which field would you recommend a class 12 science student who wants to pursue a career in research?
There are several areas . I have also added links to interviews of career professionals in that area
- Astrophysics – Research pertaining to our universe, solar system and beyond. Requires sound knowledge in Maths/Physics – Astrophysics careers
- Medical Physics/Biomedical – Research pertaining to medical devices and artificial organs (Prosthetics) to address human disability challenges. Requires sound knowledge of Physics/Biology- Medical Physics careers
- Microbiology – Microbial research to address challenges pertaining to disease such as AIDS, Cancer and other water/air borne illnesses. Requires sound foundation in Biology- Microbiology careers
- BioChemistry – Research pertaining to the fundamental components of the human body – Proteins and molecules and how they adapt and fight against pathogens. Use this knowledge to deliver personalised medicines . Requires sound knowledge of Chemistry/Biology- Biochemistry careers
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine learning – Research pertaining to Robotics/Neural Networks and training of machines based on data to mimic human behaviour. Good understanding of maths and statistics- Machine Learning careers
Is the BSc in microbiology a good option for a career? I completed my 12 science with 72%. I am so confused as to what I should choose.
Yes absolutely ! Microbiology is the study of microbial biology, the good and bad microbes. Good microbes that make Beer, Alcohol and Cheese to taste great and the bad microbes that cause diseases . Microbiology also has applications in environment (Air, water, soil etc) as well.
So by pursuing a degree in microbiology you have several options to specialize. But you might have to pursue a master’s at the very least, to get a good career opportunity.
Please review a list of interviews from microbiology professionals so you can understand their career paths – Microbiology careers
What is the scope of journalism in India?
The world needs great journalists to report the ground truth ! Moreover Journalism has become truly multi-disciplinary to present a complete picture or story for the news reader.
- Environmental Journalism – Be a changemaker and report on key environmental trends related to global warming, pollution, deforestation and many other natural hazards
- Political Journalism – The whole world is closely interlinked today. Whether it is a border issue with China/Pakistan or a nuclear issue with North Korea or a weapons transaction with USA a political journalist needs to report the facts
- Sports Journalism – If you love sports you can report on your favourite games and creatively weave beautiful stories to attract readers
- Data Journalism – With the availability and processing of Big data , the world is going towards factual journalism where a journalist uses data and numbers to provide meaningful information and trends. This is more believable and impartial.
- Investigative Journalism – Love detective work? Combine your love for writing with investigation and be a part of undercover operations to uncover illegal activities
- Entertainment Journalism – Love movies? Be a part of the reviewing community and other Page 3 happenings in the film world.
- Science Communication Journalism – Most of the research done by scientists is too complex to understand for the layman. The aim of science journalists is to break down research information and communicate it in a simple way to the common man.
To see a full list of opportunities in Journalism please look at our interviews with Journalists below – Journalism careers
What would be the most practical path to take to change careers from teaching HS math to enter the data science profession?
The bridge between mathematics and data science is statistics. If you could do a BSc in Statistics with a Masters in Applied Statistics with probably an internship in a data science project that will be the best path
However it is easier said than done. Statistics is a vast subject and requires you to master sampling, regression and machine learning concepts that can be applied to any domain.
Ideally a PhD would be great since it will lead you to unsolved problems where your statistics knowledge will really be tested.
Is there a good career choice if we are good in the English language?
What does a 60% aggregate in PCB mean?
It means that you are now completely free to pursue any career you want without the pressures of an incredibly high score. No one will trouble you.
It means you no longer bear the weight of high expectations. The only way you can go from here is UP !!!
It means you are a part of an elite crowd who truly hated cramming and memorizing and stuck to low scores even if it meant losing most popular career choices to crammers (Engg/Medical).
Take this as your opportunity to do whatever you are interested in as a career and focus on the skills you need to acquire !
What are some career options which don’t require one to be academically sound, but be good in multiple skills?
In general, an academically sound career isnt a necessity unless probably for a career in core research or even applied research.
However this doesnt mean that careers that dont require strong academic skills are easier to pursue. This is a big misconception! We have added career interviews of professionals in each area below.
- Lawyer – Requires very good communication and logical reasoning skills –Law careers
- Advertising – Highly creative thinking and communication skills – Advertising careers
- Journalism – Creative writing and questioning skills – Journalism careers
- Public Relations – Ability to be the representative of your organization and interface with the outside world. Need to be an effective communicator Journalism careers
- Designer – If you are creative and good at drawing and a problem solver at heart. How to use arts to make things easier for end user whether its a product or a service –Design careers
- Psychology – If you can empathize with others and can be a good mentor psychology is a great career –Psychology careers
While none of the above careers emphasize on academic skills they are probably much more challenging and demanding . If you believe you have the skills go ahead
What can I do after 12th if I want to become a researcher/scientist?
The most important trait of a scientist is the ability to ask the right questions and go after problems that could be disruptive in nature if solved.
Most students get stuck due to lack of clarity in framing a problem and then lacking the tenacity to see through the problem and take on challenges to take you to your goals.
Remember, as a PhD student there will be mentors to guide you but no one will tell you what to do. You are on your own and need to be a sure shot problem solver.
The typical path for a scientist is to do a BSc (Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Maths), then Masters and then a Phd. You can also go for an integrated Masters and go on directly to PhD. Some students also go a BTech and go ahead to do a PhD.
The path doesnt matter, all that matters is a clarity in the problems that you want to solve and the tenacity to solve it !
Here are interviews from research professionals so you can understand their career path –Research careers
How can you relate psychology to architecture?
Lets ask what is the job of an architect? To understand the requirements of their customer and most importantly, what do they really want in a home? Isnt that psychology?
If i, as architect, understand the psychology behind their needs and tastes i can do a better job with my technical skills which is to draw plans that they will like.
It all boils down to acting like a counsellor for your end customers and empathize with them. Isnt that all about psychology??
Here are several interviews of professionals who pursued Architecture Architecture careers
Here are several interviews of professionals who pursued Psychology –Psychology careers
Do extra activities like music or sports (other than study) help in making better resumes for a CSE engineer?
Extra activities like music or sports help you become a well rounded person. You become creative, a team player and learn to empathize with others and most importantly, learn to handle defeat gracefully !
These skills make you a better human being, not just a a better CSE engineer.
Now , how does it help you at work as a CSE engineer? The social skills will definitely help you build relationships with your co-workers and customers. Sports gives you critical problem solving skills and helps take pressure when it comes down a deliverables.
Every task at work cannot be solved by technical skills alone. It requires a combination of skills, attitude and temperament which can be achieved only when one is exposed to extracurricular activities
What are best career options for someone interested in drawing and painting and currently in 12th standard with science and maths?
Design and Animation are 2 areas where your interest in drawing/painting and exposure to maths/science would help
In both areas, you would be working with technical departments who would implement your ideas or concepts. So having a background in science and maths would help
Design has many sub-areas such as product, fashion, graphics, industrial, accessories etc . Please see the link below for career interviews of design professionals
In Animation there are creative directors and technical directors. Creative directors generate the concept , the characters and the story. Technical directors bring the concepts to life. This again requires collaboration with technical dept.
Please see the link below for career interviews of animation professionals – Animation careers
How many career options are available apart from engineering and medical?
Ofcourse there are hundreds of careers without engineering/medical. I HAVE ADDED LINK TO REAL CAREER INTERVIEWS FROM STUDENTS WHO PURSUED EACH AREA.
- Economics – A field that combines consumer behaviour and business has immense potential in every sector. You will be focused on how to incentivize consumers to buy products and services – Economics careers
- Law – You can blend your background in commerce and law to become a corporate lawyer dealing mergers & acquisitions, valuation deals, patent attorney or startup consulting – Law careers
- Arts – If you are interested in museums, history, conservation etc, you can pursue a career in art conservation, curation or critic – Art careers
- English Literature – You will be surprised to know that studying English literature opens up many careers such as journalism, marketing, theater or public communication – English Literature careers
- Psychology – Psychology has so many applications in businesses – sports, organizations, health, education, fashion etc – Psychology careers
- Design – If you are creative and love sketching you can go for a career in design . Anything from industrial design or accessory design or graphic design or fashion design or product design- Design careers
- Architecture – Love designing buildings, passionate about sustainability. Become an architect – Architecture careers
- Hospitality – Love serving people, interested in socializing. Become a chef or a hotel management professional – Hospitality careers
- Actuary – If you love maths and statistics, you can become an actuary who are professions who price risk for life insurance, pensions and other institutions that offer disaster coverage. That is, how do you simulate the future and cover yourself in case of disaster. This requires combination of economics, maths, statistics and finance – Actuary careers
- Financial Planner – If you love investing, you can become a financial planner and help clients plan their future by offering services to diversify investments in various instruments like Mutual Funds, Bonds, Derivatives etc – Financial Planning careers
- Investment Banking – Do an MBA and become an Investment Banker who helps value companies in acquisition deals. Involves lots of research and quantitative work combined with presentation skills – Investment Banking careers
- Financial Engineer – Also called mathematical Finance or computational finance, this uses the power of maths and computers to model the future and understand the randomness of equity and stocks. Work for firms who employ financial engineers to suggest complex derivative instruments to institutional traders/investors – Financial Engineering careers
- Journalist – If you love writing, you can also combine commerce with journalism to work as a financial reporter for economic times or bloomberg and report on financial news – Financial Journalist careers
What should I choose, MCA or LLB because I’m a BSc student but I have also been interested in law so I’m very confused about what I should choose for my better career?
The options that you have in mind are extremely diverse and require completely different skillsets.
A Law career is great if you are interested in reading and writing. You need to be extremely analytical in your ability to interpret legal frameworks. A Law degree, unlike MCA is not just a technical qualification. You need to put in a lot of effort in college to research your areas of interest, take internships, participate in debates and moot courts to get a feel for your interests, strengths and ability to serve your clientele.
Please see the following interviews from law students to understand the different career paths and approaches
An MCA, is much more technical but equally challenging. You will compete with lots of other students for IT jobs. And unless you end up working for a product startup you might find the work boring , especially of you join a service company like TCS or Infosys!
Is marketing a good career choice after engineering?
Engineering by itself is meaningless if it cant serve the needs of a business. You can build the greatest product in the world.
However if you cant communicate its strengths (Marketing) or retain the people who built it (HR) or ensure smooth running of the production line (Operations) or have a great team of people to provide support it (Customer Service) or get enough funding to expand operations (Finance) , your product will remain nothing but a dream.
Engineering shows you the technology to build things. However to launch it in a market is a completely different animal. A career in engineering doesnt mean you always have to build things. It also means the ability to leverage your skills in the above areas to successfully launch a product.
In your case your marketing skills in an engineering discipline can help you break down and explain tough concepts in a simplistic manner to end customers. You would be the interface between engineering dept and the consumer or market. You will be working on understanding the product from a customer’s perspective and help the engineer address real world problems. A product cant be sold without marketing
You need to show that you are a well rounded individual who can seamlessly move across the functions in an organization
What will be my career options if I pursued a post-graduation from NIFT and an M.Des, having done a bachelor’s in psychology?
With your qualification you can take an up an offbeat career such as fashion psychology, an intersection of design, psychology and business. Basically working with fashion designers and merchandisers to provide input on consumer behaviour as well as forecast new trends based on market behaviour.
Fashion is one area which is very strongly tied to buyer’s psychology and your skills will be very valuable to the industry. Please see an interview of a fashion psychologist and her career path – Fashion Psychologist Interview
What options are available to take our career forward after pursuing chartered accountancy (CA), if we don’t want to get into the field of audit/taxation?
CA is a very versatile and analytical role. A CA differs from an accountant in the ability to assimilate and interpret information and see the bigger picture.
A high growth area for CAs is in the realm of fraud investigation. Lots of consulting firms employ these investigators to go through financials to detect fraud. Here is an interview of a professional – Fraud/Anti-Corruption Expert Interview
Is it a smart choice to start my career in technical support as a 2017 MCA fresher and then try to switch careers when the opportunity arises or stay unemployed until I get a software development job?
I have a cousin of mine in a very similar situation. He shifted from TCS into a product company in a technical support position. He diligently worked his way in support and became the goto guy for technical debugging and customer handling. He learnt so many nuances of the job like understanding customers, developing patience, problem solving and analytical skills.
He patently waited for his chance and when the opportunity arrived, he applied for and secured an internal transfer in the same company as a data scientist. He has been a data scientist for 2–3 years and doing well.
In a similar way, dont pass up this opportunity. Technical support makes you well rounded and prepares you for the future, it is a stepping stone and utilise it fully. Rather than waiting pick the support job
What should a class 12 art student do if he/she has a dream of becoming an astronaut or a space researcher?
With several of the world’s most powerful nations launching their satellites and Space X planning to send people to MARS, there is a need for space professionals with diverse skills ranging from engineering, healthcare, architects and food professionals. In order to make a successful journey to space and live their these professionals work together to build a liveable habitat that can mimic earth in terms of environmental conditions.
Space Engineer – The most common but very challenging career that deals with designing and building reliable spacecrafts
Space /Astrobiologist – Provides expertise on environmental conditions and analysis of microrganisms that live in space and their effect on humans
Space Architect – For professionals who plan to live in space for extended periods of time there is a need for professionals who can design appropriate pods that support day to day human existence based on ergonomics, usability and livability. This needs space architects with very specific skills
Please look at the interviews below for careers os space professionals – Space careers
How do I help my daughter choose her career after the 12the standard? She is good in history, literature (writing poems), psychology, & economics. Is Ashoka University a good option?
Offbeat, unusual, unconventional & interesting career interviews 