While students want to work abroad after completing their courses

WORK WISE

While students want to work abroad after completing their courses, career experts urge them to consider opportunities back home, a new survey reveals

    According to a survey conducted by TimesJobs.com, nearly 39% surveyed candidates said that if they have a foreign degree they would prefer to work abroad because the professional opportunities are better there than in India. Another 33% prefer working abroad with the motive of securing a healthy bank balance before returning home. Sunil Goel, MD GlobalHunt India Pvt Ltd, an executive search organisation, agrees and believes that these findings are aligned to the mindset of the candidates due to obvious reasons. “The Indian professional setup is very competitive at every level,” he stated.
    Pallab Mishra, an engineering graduate, who is moving to the US in a few weeks to pursue his Masters in Information System Management from a leading university, says he chose to pursue his degree abroad because he believes that foreign universities offer a more specialised fast track career growth where past experiences can be put to relevant use. He adds that he would prefer to look for a job there after he has completed his course.
    Clearly, foreign degrees remain a popular choice among Indian students. According to the data shared by British Council India, 29,000 UK student-visas were issued for Indian students during 2011-2012.
> EMPLOYER PREFERENCE Though Indian employers do give preference to a foreign education, Goel believes that an employer would prefer a candidate from a reputed Indian university rather than a not so well-known foreign university. Sundararajan Narayanan, vicepresident and Global HR Head, Virtusa Corporation, believes that degrees from foreign universities certainly improve job opportunities of candidates in India. The primary reason for this is course structure and global exposure.
    The survey also indicated that majority of the surveyed employers would hire foreign educated freshers because of their international exposure, and strong application-based knowledge. Goel believes that dealing and interacting with
    global stakeholders comes easy to these foreign educated freshers.
> REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN While the survey indicates that students prefer to work abroad after their course, experts caution that students should not rule out India as a good option for working after studying abroad.
    Goel explains, “India has become a hub for global organisations and most of the organisations have their operations and back operations in India. So, there is good professional growth here.”
    In fact, he adds, there are Indian professionals with even 10-15 years of global experience who are willing to shift base to India. Narayanan says, “Reverse brain drain has increased in the last 18 months and organisations are cashing in to fill their mid and senior level positions.”
    So while pursuing foreign degrees is still a good professional investment for students, industry experts urge students to consider career opportunities in India as well before settling for a job abroad.
    Source: TimesJobs.com