The Hindu Business Line : `Don't stop learning after leaving college'

Mr S. Vijayakumar, Head (Help Desk Practice Management Group), HCL BPO, Chennai, speaking to the students of Management and Commerce at Gurunanak College, Velachery, after inaugurating the Business Line Club.

Chennai , Jan. 31

"OUT of college is the beginning of knowledge," said Mr S. Vijayakumar, Head (Help Desk Practice Management Group), HCL BPO, Chennai, to the students of Management and Commerce at Gurunanak College, Velachery, after inaugurating the Business Line Club.

Elaborating on the topic, `Dynamic Industry Scenario - Challenges to the Students of Management,' Mr Vijayakumar said students of today face many more challenges than the students of the past two decades. That is because of the dynamic industrial scenario as well as the newer challenges and expectations from students by the industry.

"I use the word dynamic industrial scenario because dynamic is much faster than a change. The duration (of dynamics) is much shorter than the change as such," he said. Calling management students "students of management," he said that as students, their learning continues even after the college. It is only after one leaves the college premises that he acquires real practical knowledge about the industry. If one lists the names of the industries where opportunities are available in plenty for today's students and future employees, there will be more from the tertiary sector than the secondary sector.

"The service industry is recording the highest growth ever," he said, explaining that the service industry in India would play a dominant role in the economy, much like in the US where it is almost 70 per cent.

Recalling his experience at IIM Ahmedabad, particularly from the choice of companies available for employment, he said the years after the '90s have seen a tremendous change in terms of employment opportunities available to management graduates. "Nobody knew about Infosys in the '80s and only two of my batch-mates preferred to join Infosys," he said. "But today Infosys is a much sought-after company."

Quoting examples of dynamic industry scenarios, Mr Vijayakumar said Toyota changes its model once every four years. There will be one change every year. That is the success story of Toyota in terms of design and engineering. In the '80s, once a product was launched, you did not have to worry for the next one year, he said. But today it is not so, you have to be nimble-footed. If Hutch comes out with a scheme today, tomorrow competitors Airtel, Reliance and Tata come out with a better scheme.

In his closing remarks, Mr Vijayakumar drew the attention of the students to the need to start learning from the day one leaves the college. Also, one should be willing to change, have no fixed ideas, have no preconceived notions, learn to be able to change at short notice and have a positive attitude, he said.

Earlier, the Principal of the College, Dr John Morais, said the student community had to understand that "the marks that you get in exams are only academic and that does not matter to the employers. They are looking at skills and its relevance to them."

Besides nearly 200 students, others present on the occasion were Prof. P. Appalaraju, Director, Gurunanak Institute of Management, faculty members and Mr S. Sridhar, Assistant Regional General Manager (Circulation), The Hindu, Chennai.