[MotoBlip]

Many people here suggested going for mechanical engineering, and I agree and lot of good advice here that's really hard to top. Here's my story, I was in the ECE department, but I love cars. So, when college started, I joined a baja club and made it onto the team after some tests. Even though I knew more about electronics, I jumped into all the mechanical work with the support of my seniors. I learned a lot and had a great time participating in events, both domestic and international. Now, I work as a software engineer, but my time in the club helped me figure out what I wanted to do. My brother has a similar story. He studied CSE and now works on the Autopilot team at Tesla.

College can be a wild ride, and it's tough to know where you'll land. My advice? Take your passions seriously and grab every opportunity college throws your way. In the end, it'll lead you to a career you truly love. Best of luck! 👍

[Amrit@wheels]

My advice would be a little different. Choose whatever career path that you are comfortable in, but definitely start working on at least one skill that is in demand. It could be something simple like content writing, blogging, graphics designing, or anything that is in demand and you are fairly interested in it. Try to master it before you complete your college. Trust me, one day, you will thank me for this advice.

[seawolf]

Originally Posted by dieselteen

Now coming to the heart of this topic,
'what to do after 12th grade in 2024'. As far as what I heard and was told CSE is the most chosen option in engineering and I do agree it has some awesome placements in many institutions. But being young with little exposure I wanted to choose something out of the box.

Take a year off and travel.

[Janus]

Originally Posted by seawolf

Take a year off and travel.

I will second this, but the concept of taking break is still foreign, peer pressure from families/relatives and academicians would definitely change the mind of the individual.

Back in late 2000's, after securing admission to my college, I went around mid of August to just have a look around the campus and talk to the Head of Department and also check if my name is reflecting in the admission list.

The HoD asked, why I am not joining the same day as classes were already started and few students are coming in daily, and he asked my dad to leave me there in the college that day to avoid missing classes and syllabus for the first semester

Me and my dad were laughing after coming out of the staff room. I later joined around mid of September.

[sjain2054]

Originally Posted by dieselteen

Hello everyone,

First of all, let me give a brief about myself, I am a 12th grader and soon to be a UG student. I have chosen PCM with Computer Science as optional in my senior secondary education. Ever since I remember, my childhood was all eventful with all the great automobiles involved in my life from a town bus to a luxury car which made me much more mature than what I would have been if haven't known them

Now coming to the heart of this topic,
'what to do after 12th grade in 2024'. As far as what I heard and was told CSE is the most chosen option in engineering and I do agree it has some awesome placements in many institutions. But being young with little exposure I wanted to choose something out of the box.

From an early age (say 11 years) I wanted to do automobile engineering but declining placements and a syllabus of my grandfather's age did not sound promising to me, so it was not considered. But the dream is to still work in the Automobile industry.

So I thought of seeking some advice and suggestions from our beloved community regarding what to choose after my schooling which will help me land in a good place in the upcoming future with great potential to grow

I am looking forward to all your valuable inputs and most welcome for all your suggestions in advance

thanks for reading this throughout

Regards,
diesel teen

Originally Posted by Petrolhead717

Hi dieselteen (my friend,my classmate).

Myself and dieselteen had same idealogy,but in my case as my father works in IT he says to join CSE so i left those ideas.Still, I will do it as a hobby to explore the automobile industry.


Thank you so much, my fellow members, for the opinions given.

I do not think this is a good idea - asking random people for advise basis very very little information about yourself. You can see the myriad of random responses you have got. People have said everything from "follow your passion" to "I love that you follow your passion" to "following your passion is a trendy term nowadays" to "take a year off and travel" etc etc... I do not understand what deep analysis of yourself you are going to do after reading all this.

This is like a what car thread where the person gives very little detail on his requirements and then the entire forum suggests cars from i10 to Mercedes to that poor chap.

What is the end result? Nothing.

Answer some FAQs and then let people pour in with their thoughts. You will be surprised with pearls of wisdom that will then come your way.

a. How good are you at studies?
Explanation of the question - Tell us marks you got in 9, 10, 11 and 12 (expected). Tell us which subjects are you genuinely inclined towards and avoid giving us fancy names like "applied mathematics" just to sound cool. Tell us if you have the work ethics to sit down and actually concentrate and study for 5-6 hours a day minimum or not. Or is it otherwise. Paint us a good picture of this.

b. Have you ever taken an aptitude test?
Explanation of the question - Every boy has dreams to become an automobile engineer. Every single one of us had that dream between 13-19years of age. It does not mean anything and it is NOT your passion (trust me on this). So what are you naturally good at. Take a test. Take two tests. Share the results with the forum and mull over the results yourself.

c. Have you ever taken a personality test?
Explanation of the question - Not everyone is made for every kind of job. Some people are not good at dealing with people and choose jobs that requirement minimum human interaction. Some people have the gift of the gab and can be successful in most situations. Learn about yourself. Take the MBTI test. Google it.

d. What specific skills have you already acquired?
Explanation of the question - A lot of us do not use the actual school/college education to make money. (I am an MBA in marketing but I am working finance in a bank right now). Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. List of a few skills that will make you successful in most careers are -
(i) Accounting & Basic Financial Management - Everything is a business. You should know how to read basic financial statements really well and you should know basic accounting like you know your English alphabets.
(ii) Excel and Powerpoint - MS Excel is a very very powerful and common tool. If you know it, you will be slightly ahead of the competition at any workplace. And never under-estimate the power of a good presentation. Do you have good presentation skills? No, go develop them like a bodybuilder develops muscles in a gym.
(iii) Learn to do things with your hands - Repair a car, yoga, cook a meal, give first aid, editing a great video or even swimming. These are life skills. If you are ever down and out in life they will keep you going and keep you fit.
(iv) Image management - Do you know how to project yourself to the world? Do you know how to speak to people? Learn it. Practice it. Imbibe it. Watch all Jordan Peterson videos online and join courses (online or offline) and deliberately improve yourself and how people see you. Otherwise, irrespective of what career you choose you will be mediocre at best.
(v) Learn a relevant language - French is not relevant. Mandarin is. Japanese is. Think and execute the learning of this skillset.
etc etc etc... ask Teambhpians such specific questions and then build on it.

e. What is your family's financial position/how much freedom do your parents give you?
Explanation of the question - A really rich guy can afford to take many risks and do experiments in life like take a year off and travel. He has a backing even if he does not have a passion. A middle class fellow will mostly follow his parents advice and do the conventional things. What I have written just now are generic statements. But it will help people on the forum know you better and hence answer better.

f. Do you have discipline?
Explanation - answer this for yourself and be true to yourself.

Bro, you got to explain yourself in detail and know yourself in detail in order to seek meaningful answers and direction from the genuinely smart people on TeamBHP. Otherwise, their life experience will not be useful to you and you will get very generic, useless answers.

[dieselteen]

Originally Posted by sjain2054

I do not think this is a good idea - asking random people for advise basis very very little information about yourself. You can see the myriad of random responses you have got. People have said everything from "follow your passion" to "I love that you follow your passion" to "following your passion is a trendy term nowadays" to "take a year off and travel" etc etc... I do not understand what deep analysis of yourself you are going to do after reading all this.

This is like a what car thread where the person gives very little detail on his requirements and then the entire forum suggests cars from i10 to Mercedes to that poor chap.

What is the end result? Nothing.

I found your post eye-opening and your words took contrary reaction in me to question myself even more

Originally Posted by sjain2054

Answer some FAQs and then let people pour in with their thoughts. You will be surprised with pearls of wisdom that will then come your way.

Originally Posted by sjain2054

a. How good are you at studies?

I scored 88% in 10th, and I am expecting an almost similar percentage of marks again in my 12th grade; my 9th and 11th marks are comparatively lower as I wasn't concentrating much on those years. I am not specifically inclined towards any subject, but in general, I like certain topics from all my subjects, excluding math. Academically, in physics, I feel I'm good at modern physics, and in chemistry, I'm more of an inorganic than organic guy.

Originally Posted by sjain2054

b. Have you ever taken an aptitude test?

I have taken a few aptitude tests during entrance exams in coaching institutes but recently I started preparing aptitude for various college entrances and learnt some topics but I'm yet to give a full-fledged test. Now I'm planning to take a test and will share the results with all

Originally Posted by sjain2054

c. Have you ever taken a personality test?

Right after reading your post, I googled and took a MBTI test here:

https://www.16personalities.com/

these results very much match my character

Originally Posted by sjain2054

d. What specific skills have you already acquired?

(i) Accounting & Basic Financial Management - Everything is a business. You should know how to read basic financial statements really well and you should know basic accounting like you know your English alphabets.

I have learnt very basics of finance on the Internet and a very close friend of mine is very much interested in these things which helped me gain some knowledge(compared to my peers)

Originally Posted by sjain2054

(ii) Excel and Powerpoint - MS Excel is a very very powerful and common tool. If you know it, you will be slightly ahead of the competition at any workplace. And never under-estimate the power of a good presentation. Do you have good presentation skills? No, go develop them like a bodybuilder develops muscles in a gym

I don't have any major skills regarding these tools but I will work on this during my summer break

Originally Posted by sjain2054

(iii) Learn to do things with your hands - Repair a car, yoga, cook a meal, give first aid, editing a great video or even swimming. These are life skills. If you are ever down and out in life they will keep you going and keep you fit.

Interestingly, I have done all those things you have mentioned above in the question and it did help me quite a few times already

Originally Posted by sjain2054

(iv) Image management - Do you know how to project yourself to the world? Do you know how to speak to people? Learn it. Practice it. Imbibe it. Watch all Jordan Peterson videos online and join courses (online or offline) and deliberately improve yourself and how people see you. Otherwise, irrespective of what career you choose you will be mediocre at best.
(v) Learn a relevant language - French is not relevant. Mandarin is. Japanese is. Think and execute the learning of this skillset.
etc etc etc... ask Teambhpians such specific questions and then build on it.

Added these things to my 'to-do lists' during summer break

Originally Posted by sjain2054

e. What is your family's financial position/how much freedom do your parents give you?

Both my parents are working in good positions and my brother is in his last year of PG after which he will be also an earning member of the family, so I don't have any issue with my basics till some time after my graduation. But I aim to get placed early and be independent at a young age.
My parents won't obstruct my opinion on most things but being a middle-class I do have/had some constraints. My parents might allow me to take a drop year only if I have enough confidence in myself to do things right in the gap. My parents seem to already have a backup plan if things go badly but as of now they have left things in my hand

Originally Posted by sjain2054

Bro, you got to explain yourself in detail and know yourself in detail in order to seek meaningful answers and direction from the genuinely smart people on TeamBHP. Otherwise, their life experience will not be useful to you and you will get very generic, useless answers.

I hope all my responses will be helpful

[Mystic]

The opportunities in 2024 is unlimited. I don't want to advise you on what I personally did in my engineering days in early 80s in a Government engineering college by paying less than Rs 500.

I will tell of my experience of my son which may help you as this is as per the opportunities available now to Indian passport holders. If possible, go abroad at UG level in a top tier college in an area of your passion ( I have a lot of respect for engineering schools in India but unfortunately the harsh truth is that our colleges are not into core research on par with competition. Our IITs also are not top ranked even when compared to our closest neighbours in Singapore, China etc). My son has studied from grade 1 to secondary in USA and was relocated to Bangalore due to my decision and joined him in a 10+2 CBSE school in Bangalore as I also studied CBSE. The competition in India is crazy and everyone’s aim is to get to IIT with a good ranking JEE and later join IT industry with a good package. Luckily the school in which he studied has FITJEE affiliation with permission from CBSE so that students get to study both CBSE and IIT JEE coaching in the same working hours of the school ( CBSE has stopped this practice later and his was the last batch). The school has very high calibre teachers and also most students are very talented.

I myself am from academic world having done research in engineering and conducted international conferences on engineering education etc. I don’t want to influence my biased personal opinions towards my kid. Hence, I appointed one high calibre education counsellor based in Calcutta and ex Stanford. This counsellor is extremely good at his work and takes only a limited number of students and his name was recommended by the school itself. He does a scientific study on each of his students and comes up with a game plan individually. Not all kids have the same passion in CSE etc which is the hottest career path now by default. This counsellor typically takes contract for 2 years in 10+2 as one may need to write AP exams, SAT etc during 11 th grade itself in India. Anyways, since you have already completed 10+2, pls approach an appropriate education counsellor who can look into your individual background and advise on you in a customised manner. Opportunities for millennials are unlimited and one needs a professional advice and don’t go by the popular opinion from peers and family. Do not hesitate to spend money for counselling.

Just to boost the morale for a typical Indian passport holder, the opportunities are minimal abroad. When I look back now, my son is one of the youngest PhD in CSE from a top 5 university ( completed PhD in CSE AI after five years from 10+2 in Bangalore school ). He is a faculty in one of the top 3 universities in USA. When choosing a good university, there are many ranking systems which are commercial and confusing out there. Take help from counsellor. In the case of CSE, one such respected no nonsense web site followed by students ( www.csrankings.org ).

[sjain2054]

Thanks for the details.

Let me tell you at the outset, it is still difficult to give specific guidance through an online forum. It will be best to speak to a professional counselor (some of them are actually very good) or to an older person that you are close to and who knows you well.

However, I will still give some viewpoints from my side -

Originally Posted by dieselteen

I scored 88% in 10th, and I am expecting an almost similar percentage of marks again in my 12th grade; my 9th and 11th marks are comparatively lower as I wasn't concentrating much on those years. I am not specifically inclined towards any subject, but in general, I like certain topics from all my subjects, excluding math. Academically, in physics, I feel I'm good at modern physics, and in chemistry, I'm more of an inorganic than organic guy.

Working in an office/desk job requires you to sit and focus for very long hours. Can you do that? A marketing executive, a banker, a software engineer etc etc need to sit and read and learn and create and present etc. Do you see yourself doing that and going to an office everyday? Answer for yourself. Do not tell me. From what you have written, you are a slightly above avg student. I am being brutal but 88% in 10th is a piece of cake and you say that you did not do much in 9th and 11th so that tells me that you work ethics when it comes to actually sitting down and focusing, is not very good. I have a 17 year old nephew in SFO who is not good at studies. He works hard but is simply not interested in sitting down and doing things. Instead, he is an Eagle Scout and is very active in helping others and picking up things that require physical effort. He will now go to a private college in Southern California to study Business Management. In USA, private colleges have about 20 students in a class and public colleges have about 120. So individual focus is there in private college and he will need it because he is not the kinds to sit and focus on text books. Hence, we made that choice. Later on, after he is done with this, he might go towards becoming a fireman over there because it is a respected job that pays well in the US and its right up his alley. But business studies till graduation will equip him to understand ways of the world in general and remember, everything is a business.

Choose your next path accordingly.

Originally Posted by dieselteen

I have taken a few aptitude tests during entrance exams in coaching institutes but recently I started preparing aptitude for various college entrances and learnt some topics but I'm yet to give a full-fledged test. Now I'm planning to take a test and will share the results with all

Do these tests seriously but do not take the results too seriously just yet. Who knows what they want to do in life at 17 years. I am almost 40 and I am still confused. But they give you a general direction and help you know yourself a little better. You will keep evolving and hence take that general knowhow about yourself from these tests and move forward.

Originally Posted by dieselteen

Right after reading your post, I googled and took a MBTI test and I got my results

https://www.16personalities.com/enfp-personality

these results very much match my character

If you think it matches who you are then reflect on it very seriously and use the career section of the results to guide you into what you should do in college. Match the results with your own thoughts and past track record and then move ahead.

Originally Posted by dieselteen

I have learnt very basics of finance on the Internet and a very close friend of mine is very much interested in these things which helped me gain some knowledge(compared to my peers)

I don't have any major skills regarding these tools but I will work on this during my summer break

Interestingly, I have done all those things you have mentioned above in the question and it did help me quite a few times already

Added these things to my 'to-do lists' during summer break

Work on every single one of these skills very seriously in your life. It will help you immensely. Take classes if you have to. Over the next 5-6 years, master all these skills I have mentioned. Add to the skillset list, if need be. College will not teach you these things. Don't let college come in the way of your education. 99% colleges in India do not have teachers coming to class regularly or the students for that matter. I am talking about reputed colleges like Sydenham or Stephens. Its all nonsense. Just a degree but no learning for you.

Originally Posted by dieselteen

Both my parents are working in good positions and my brother is in his last year of PG after which he will be also an earning member of the family, so I don't have any issue with my basics till some time after my graduation. But I aim to get placed early and be independent at a young age.
My parents won't obstruct my opinion on most things but being a middle-class I do have/had some constraints. My parents might allow me to take a drop year only if I have enough confidence in myself to do things right in the gap. My parents seem to already have a backup plan if things go badly but as of now they have left things in my hand

DO NOT TAKE A YEAR BREAK TO TRAVEL. PLEASE.

I am not saying that travel does not teach you things, but you do not have to take a break and travel at any given point in your life. You can go someplace for 1,2,3 weeks but then come back and focus on your studies, skill sets improving, family etc etc etc. Travel once in 3 months for a short period like even 3 days is ok but come back home and focus on your life. When travelling, speak to people as much as you can and extract the most of those few days of travel.

Do not take a break at all in your life. Decide what you want to study and just do it. Do not worry too much. We have people who joined FIITJEE in class 9 to crack IIT and then they went to IIT to do mechanical engineering and then did MBA and are now working basic formulae on excel sheets to make a living in some goddamn random bank/startup. Utter waste of IIT degree. So make your choice but don't fret over it too much.

Remember, life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

So just make sure you have the complete ammo (refer my skillsets list) to take whatever life throws at you. Everything else will unfold whichever way it has to.

[NPV]

If engineering isn’t your thing and you still want to consider doing something related to automobiles (from a broader/abstract sense), you can consider doing a 4 year B.Des. Bachelor of Design)course at any of the NID (National institute of Design) branches for which there is a national level entrance exam NID DAT. You can also consider one of the many private universities that offer this course. I think the branch of specialisation you could choose are Communications Design or Product Design. This isn’t a pure science/engineering course, but is focused more on art and design thinking to solve problems.

IIT Bombay also offers B.Des Industrial Design for which there is a common entrance exam UCEED.

[TorqueAddict007]

As somebody who is doing his 3rd year of engineering at a good college in CSE, I have a few points that I hope give you some clarity. It's because when I was in 12th, I stood at the crossroads of such a choice. My dream had always been to work in F1 and I really wanted to get into it at one point of my life. So by the time 12th rolled around, I was seriously considering doing Mechanical Engineering and then maybe doing Master's abroad, preferably in the UK. But when making my choice ultimately, I realised a comfortable life and staying with my family was more important to me. That brings me to my first point:

1. Jobs in India for mechanical engineers, do not pay well, relative to CS/IT jobs. I recently got an offer at a company and it's three times what my friend from the mech department got, and he got one of the best offers in his department. So if money is your criteria, you're not finding it here. You can if you really work hard and ascend the ranks, but you'll still not have the level of salary growth your peers from CS fields will have.

2. Most of the mechanical engineering graduates I know shifted to Germany to do their Master's and settled there. Especially those who work in the automobile industry, all worked here for a year or two before shifting abroad. The automobile industry is getting better in India, no doubt about that, but it's long, long ways off that of some developed markets.

3. If you want to make decent money, and you also want to stay in the country, and you want a decent work life balance, CS is your only go. It's unfortunate that there's no other choice but that's what I realised too. If you plotted money on one side, and work life balance on the other, CS is the one that falls right on the diagonal, at least in our country. But there's a catch.

4. The Indian software industry is extremely vast and the experience you have and the money you make depends a great deal on the type of company you're working in. The duality of Indian IT is such that you end up at a good MNC, a good product company, then your life is smooth, make good money, have a nice work life balance, deal with a relatively calm work environment. End up at an Indian Service Company, or a service company in general, pay is bad, managers squeeze you dry, you slog, and there's basically no upside to it unless it's just an entry point for you to get into the field and later on shift into a product company.

5. Competition is brutal. The vast majority of IT jobs are in the service companies, and while the number of roles offered by good product companies has gone up, it's nowhere near the level of fresh graduates. Your biggest entry point is your college. If you want to get out of college with a 15 lpa+ CTC, you have no choice but to work hard and get into good CS courses, which have a good placement record. Or else you'll have to slog your way up through the service companies.

This is where I'll get a little subjective, I was and still am incredibly passionate about automobiles and F1, but passion and profession need not always match up. I have a cousin, a few years older than me, who followed his passion, did mechanical engineering, went to Germany, did his Master's and now works at Daimler. But he didn't end up in the role he wanted, misses his family a great deal, and has gotten jaded with his own passion. So what I learnt by looking at him is, most of us don't have the raw willpower to keep loving what we do, especially when the going gets tough.

Passion only stays with an individual as long as there's no suffering, remove the rose tinted glasses, step into the real world, and it starts to fizzle out. Of course, if you are extremely sure that working in automobiles is what you want, go for it, but remember that you are also allowed to work a job that keeps you comfortable and be passionate and enjoy another thing from the outside. Look at our own forum, so many different individuals from so many diverse professions, but all of us united by our love for automobiles.

So weigh all your options, ask yourself what you really want, don't look at it only from a professional angle, see what you have to do personally as well to make it happen, and make your decision. Everything in life is a compromise, you gain something somewhere, you lose it elsewhere, it's just a question of making a compromise you can live with. All the best! I hope things work out for you the way you want them to!

[Apex1815]

I think I can give you a fair idea about working with an Auto OEM in India.

I am working as a Homologation Manager with one of the biggest OEM of "Heavy Earthmoving Machinery" right from the beginning of my career and its been my 12th year in this field. My role has expanded beyond vehicle Testing with the Test Agencies like ARAI, ICAt and now I am directly involved in discussions with the Govt on Future Regulations/Standards related to the Earthmoving Machinery.

Right from my School days like every guy, I was also fascinated by Cars/Motorcycles and I pursued Mechanical Engineering followed by MBA and I landed with a Global Manufacturer of Heavy Earthmoving Machinery.

Since you have opted for CSE and still want to know about Auto OEMs, I will touch upon a few trends of Automobile Industry in India which is based on my experience :

1) Only a Handful Number of Automobile OEMs
There are very limited number of Automobile OEMs. You can actually list it down easily (Bus/Truck/Car/Earthmoving Machinery manufacturers/2W) therefore opportunities are very less as compared to Software companies.


2) There is no mass hiring & firing in Automobile companies
Very few numbers (Hardly in Two digits) will be selected as GETs (Graduate Engineer Trainees mainly Mechanical and few Electrical/Electronics) which generally come from campus placements. After the completion of their induction they will be assigned to various Deptts. Eg Quality Assurance, Production Engg/Design/Service.

whereas in Software companies Hiring & Firing happens in large numbers.


3) Stable Career in Auto OEMs
Since there is hardly any mass hiring and firing in Auto OEMs, you will see most of the employees working lifetime in a single company (or changing Two to Three companies maximum).

whereas in Software companies most of the folks keep changing the jobs
very often.

4) Linear Growth with Auto OEMs
Since the People stay here for a very long time the growth of most of the performers will be Linear. As there would be a lot of people in hierarchy. Bigger is the company linear is the growth with Auto OEM.

whereas in Software companies you might have exponential growth.


5) Defined Salary Structures
Since the Auto OEMs are only handful. The salary structure is pre-defined in the industry. Generally you will not see much of the variation (+/- 20%) in Salary structure of the Employees with a particular number of experience working in Two different companies.

whereas in Software companies you may have liberty of working at your desired pay scale.

6) Job hopping not much appreciated
You will be considered for higher positions like Vice President etc in an Auto OEM if you work for a longer period for that company like 20 years . Frequent fliers will not be preferred beyond middle management.

Whereas in Software companies you keep changing the Jobs/Cities every Two to Three years.

7) Nature of Jobs in Auto OEMs
Whatever Department you get into, in the initial 5~7 years you might be doing very basic supporting work mainly assigned by your seniors where you decision making will not be much involved and your seniors will be the main decision maker for every small and minute things.

Do you need to be a Mechanical Engineer to get into an Auto OEM?

You need not be only Mechanical engineer to work with an Auto OEM but if you want go into core operations (Eg Production Engg/Design) of a vehicle manufacturing company you need to be a Mechanical Engineer.

Remember any Vehicle is firstly a Mechanical Stuff. Software etc are the add ons to give a better experience and further add value to a vehicle in terms of safety/comfort. A lot of vehicle manufacturers today especially new start up in EV segment are playing around Software/AI but there products are lagging Basic Mechanical Engineering resulting into pre-mature failures.

There are plenty of other options which you can still enter into Auto OEM:

Commerce Background - Logistics/Finance /Accounts/Stores/Purchase
HR/Admin/Marketing.

Technical Background - Design/Production/Quality/Application Engg/Service.

I hope I could give some indication on how Automobile Industry works. Pros & Cons depend whether you see it absolutely or compare it with some other industry.

All the Best !

[One]

Excellent & extremely practical advice by most in this thread! Some things that I would like to add:

Originally Posted by dieselteen

As far as what I heard and was told CSE is the most chosen option in engineering and I do agree it has some awesome placements in many institutions. But being young with little exposure I wanted to choose something out of the box.

The beauty with CS is that you don't need to be a CSE graduate to get a CS job. Infact, to get a really good job in CS, the best way is to prepare outside of what is taught in syllabus. Your opportunities in CS will not reduce (worst case, you might be impacted in your first couple of years post academics) even if you haven't done CSE so this should be the least of your concerns. Feel free to DM to know anything about this industry.

One thing is guaranteed - it is not that any syllabus is outdated, it is what we learn from it and then extend from it that really matters. This is as much true in Mechanical Engineering or CSE.

Originally Posted by sjain2054

........
DO NOT TAKE A YEAR BREAK TO TRAVEL. PLEASE.
..........
So make your choice but don't fret over it too much.
.........
Everything else will unfold whichever way it has to.

Some excellent advice by the member in his responses to you.

India is many countries - don't need a "break" to travel. The city where I stay has one the of world's most expensive house and it also has the worst of slums at the same place. Whatever perspectives get opened by traveling, can be done by "regular" travel in India as long as one is willing to keep eyes and ears open.

Also your choices of graduation stream do not have a degree of finality as compared to some other choices later in life.

Originally Posted by TorqueAddict007

As somebody who is doing his 3rd year of engineering.......most of us don't have the raw willpower to keep loving what we do, especially when the going gets tough.

Passion only stays with an individual as long as there's no suffering, remove the rose tinted glasses, step into the real world, and it starts to fizzle out.

What maturity at this stage! To be truly passionate versus liking something in comfort are two entirely different things. And at this stage it is totally fine to not be truly passionate about anything for which one is willing to suffer.

The beauty about this age is that time is a friend and everything is a learning experience without deep scars. As long as one is not delusional about "thinking they have a passion" about something that they haven't already invested the time and effort, one can make any reasonable choice and do things in parallel (clubs/ hobbies/ communities/ competitions etc) to keep figuring things along the way.

All the best!

[PreludeSH]

Sometimes getting into a thing and doing it will teach you that you are not supposed to do it

If you, like everyone thinks CSE is good in terms of opportunities and financially, go ahead. Do something advanced as masters with more emphasis on Math which will help you in any domain in engineering.

[akshaysawant]

Originally Posted by sidoxic

I'm a production engineer + MBA, now heading my own ad agency.

Life may take you many places, and engineering is a good place to start. But in engineering jobs, supply far exceeds demand - which means those hiring have a massive upper hand in negotiations than candidates. This leads to lower entry level salary, lower work life balance etc.
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Hi,

Beg to differ here, Sir!! Young people these days want to work in an air conditioned environment, want to earn big, rather very quickly without sweating a drop whatsoever. Sweating is down market for them.

I am founder- Director of three companies which are into MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing), Systems Integration and Software. Currently we have a labour force of around 500 people and majority of our projects are in south India, some sub-contracted from companies like Voltas, Bluestar, Fujitsu et.al. We are working on projects in Tirunelveli for Tata Power, Ola’s plant in Pochampalli, TVS plant in Hosur, IISC Bengaluru, CMRL, BMRCL etc etc. My company and the big ones that I just mentioned are all searching for good mechanical and production engineers. There are hundreds of vacancies that I know. None of us are able to find suitable candidates because of one simple reason. These engineers will have to slog. Slog in heat and dust. The work is challenging, exciting and you will have to use your brains to innovate and manage daily. Unlike IT professionals who do not even have to get their shoes dusted and polished once a week, these engineers will have to stand at site and get plants, industries, infrastructure up and running. With India booming, infra projects announce almost everyday, companies doing expansions, we need more engineers who are ready to take the challenge on-field. But, kids these days are happy literally doing nothing (nothing new, same boring thing again and again) and just give their jobs fancy names like analyst, SCRUM master, tester and so on. Happy to sit on bench but party hard every week ends (these days Wednesdays are new weekend). I hope you all members understand my angst and no one should take anything personally. And BTW I am myself a computer engineer and a MBA!

[mm_shen]

Hi Diesel Teen! I second what Scenario7 has told. Very detailed and the right advice. Follow it!

You are at the same cross road as I was about 17 years back. I had taken PCMCs and did my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. Now working as a Technical Director in a company which makes Special Purpose Machines. My brother took up the same route, is a Managing Director of Indian operations in a German Environmental Startup. This was not what we wanted, but this what life threw at us. But we are happy where we are currently.

Look at what you want to from your profession down the road. Getting a good pay matters to some, getting job satisfaction matters more to some. Getting good pay while still following passion is possible, but you have to be persistent, really good it and luck also plays a part. The bitter truth is, that the chance of this happening is difficult, but not impossible.

If you want a good pay at the end of your course, join other glamorous streams. Mechanical/Automobile is not meant for these. But if you want to follow your passion go for Mechanical Engineering. You have lot more options at the end of your course.

I was a couch potato during my engineering college days and it took me about 2-3 years to come out of it and understand what am I doing and learning in my profession. But my brother was a part of SAE Baja team at his college from the 2nd years and headed the team in the final year. The amount of knowledge that he gained helped not just him. He thought me a lot of calculations like how to design a gearbox, bring down the cost in manufacturing by having a lean design and many more concepts. His knowledge helped me a lot too! If Automobile is your passion, join Mechanical and concentrate on being an active member of these teams. You will not only learn, but it will build your character, make you strong and ready for the cut throat world out there! If you have the means do your Masters either from a reputed institute in India or abroad please do it.

Don't expect your initial years to pay you good. Be ready for some harsh words, hard work and setbacks. Don't get disheartened when you see your friends from other streams earn more and enjoy. Remember you are here to learn and try to grab as much knowledge as possible. In a few years, your market value would be something else and your pay will be good. Who knows you may end up being a founder of an automobile company yourself! All the best, god bless and make it big.