Mechanical Engineering Placements Manipal: Core Vs IT

Dear MITians,

Let me first introduce myself as an alumnus of MIT, Manipal, Mechanical Engineering batch of 2013. I’m presently working at Vedanta Power, Jharsaguda.

The reason I’m writing this article is due to the numerous queries about the life at a Industrial plant put forward by many of you (which is a very good question really!). Let me answer the same in this forum so as to give all of you an idea on what to do in your life. I’ll be very frank with you all…

First of all take this very seriously, the life of a mechanical engineer at a production company is tough. I do not mean to scare you, but it is true, unfortunately. It’s not like at the IT companies where you can get a lot of time and also a good city. However you will become a tough person gradually. So to answer the question that some of you guys have asked – Which to prefer: “IT company or core company”?

If you want to join a core company for the money, you’ll be surprised! An IT company will give you a similar payout after 3-4 years and would also give you lot of options to witch companies and also other benefits. I suggest you join a core company if and only if you actually like Mechanical engineering! Else, you’ll end up frustrated. Another reason you will join the core company is because you may not like sitting continuously for 8 hours (as is the case with me).

So the Pros and Cons of joining an IT company for a mechanical engineer are as follows:

PROS	CONS
Good city	Very frustrating to sit for 8 hours
You will also improve your communication skills, interactive skills, presentation skills, writing skills	Will not be able to save much if in India(package <8 lacs)
Chances of abroad if lucky enough	May not see sunlight for days
Most important hot girls /cute boys.	Not what you studied for!

The Pros and Cons of joining a core company for a mechanical engineering are as follows:

PROS	CONS
You can save a lot	No Pizza hut/Dominos etc.
Must join if you want to do higher studies in 2-3 years	Need to work hard, physically and mentally
Will get respect	Initial salaries given by the IT companies are way more than their core counterparts
More practical experience

The Core experience helps a lot for MS admissions to a good university abroad and getting a research project / research assistant position under a professor and getting a job after MS. They love it if you have any industry experience. The underline however is that the project should be related to your specialization during your Masters.

These points are all my personal experience, there may be some different experience with other people. Whichever you prefer, have a read about this article and plan, because this one decision will make your future… live life, enjoy Manipal, party hard… Sayonara…
“MIGHTY MIGHTY YAMMMMIT”.

About the author: Piyush Kumar Sinha first posted this article in the Student Council of MIT, Manipal group.

Addendum by Rujhan Gupta an alumnus of MIT Manipal 2011: I worked at Maruti for 4 years and wanted to add a few more points about core company:
1) Growth is slow. Core requires experience and knowledge (less than 2% of what you studied in college will help)
2) Experience is very valuable. IT is mainstream these days. So if you want to go for an MBA or an MS you may get an advantage in terms of experience
3) Main learning for me: People management, getting your hands dirty, and crisis management.
4) Main verticals in core job:

Production: lot of running on line and day to day management;

Quality Assurance: auditing of vendors and parts to check they are as per specifications;

R&D: less research and more development ie you will be interacting with vendors to get parts developed and validated;

Supply Chain: Most glamorous, includes ordering of parts from vendor, inventory management, vendor development, exploration of new vendors etc

Click to know about Mechanical Engineering at Manipal University Jaipur.