As a college student, are you concerned that your knowledge alone won’t be enough to impress potential employers? Do you feel you lack the necessary hands-on technical skills to secure a job? Maybe you’ve thought of an engineering solution for a problem in your school or community but are unsure how to take the next step.
I struggled to bridge the gap between classroom theory and real-world application. But when you combine academic knowledge with practical projects that solve a societal problem with technology, you can ace any interview.
You don’t have to navigate the journey alone. Here are some lessons I learned as a student.
Speeding up checkout lines and accounting processes
I’m a cloud support engineer at a company in Hyderabad, India. I’m also an active IEEE volunteer as one of its young professionals, an impact creator, and a brand ambassador.
In my role as impact creator, I share my insights on engineering, computing, and technology with the news media to highlight trends and consumer habits. As a brand ambassador, I educate students and professionals on how to display IEEE branding on websites, newsletters, banners, event materials, and other items.
When I was in my first semester as a computer engineering student at Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, in New Delhi, I became frustrated by the long lines to check books in and out of the library of the affiliated college, the HMR Institute of Technology and Management. Even getting a new library card took a long time. I was determined to solve the problem.
For six months, I singlehandedly developed a software program to scan student ID cards and speed up the processes. I received the school’s first Technocrat Award for my efforts.
Word got out about my programming skills, and I received many requests to help solve other problems. An intriguing one was from the director of India’s largest national broadcasting company, All India Radio. I was asked to streamline its accounting process. At the time, the company used only Microsoft Excel along with a pen-and-paper system. It took me just six months to build a full-stack accounting software program to make the process significantly more efficient.
“When you combine academic knowledge with practical projects that solve a societal problem with technology, you can ace any interview.”
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