What are the major mistakes students do in their 1st year BTech?

Taking academics and career for granted.

When you are in school, you are under the supervision of your parents. As you step into college, things start changing. Suddenly, you have to take your own responsibility. Unfortunately, most students fail to realize this.

I have seen highly talented students give-up on academics as soon as they enter college just because they think that now that 12th is over, they can sit back and relax and things will happen automatically. Obviously, this is orders of magnitude far from reality.

What really happens in college is that you have to take responsibility for your resume, your internship, your job, your higher studies, and many other things. You need to build the right set of skills so that you are employable in the market. With a few exceptions, most college professors don’t really give a damn about your career. You are paying the college fees from which they are getting their salary. So, in the end, they are making money off your stupidity.

Most students don’t even know the difference between product and services companies and they end up working at Rs. 3.15 lakhs per year in IT services firms. Their skill-set further stagnates because there is hardly any learning in the IT services firms.

Talking specifically from the Computer Science domain, here are some of the suggestions I have for 1st-year college students:

• Start building your resume from day 1. Aim for a full 2-page resume by the end of 7th semester. Many people recommend 1-page resume which is also fine.
• Build a habit of reading books and learning from online courses. You don’t really have to purchase a hard copy. ebooks are available online and are often quite convenient. Enroll in various online courses to strengthen your skill-set.
• Be aware of the latest trends and technologies in the market. Android app development was a “cool” thing 5 years ago. Things are changing now and you should consider moving to latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, etc. 5 years later, this will also change and new things would come. Be prepared for a change.
• Aim for summer internships at the end of 2nd and 3rd year. Internship helps you gain exposure to how the industry works.
• Be aware of how off-campus placements work. Don’t restrict yourself to campus recruitment. Learn how to build skills and resume so that you can reach out to companies on your own. You are almost sure to get a higher package through off-campus placement.
• Learn basic freelancing skills which can help you make side money.