Engineers turn to TNPSC for secure jobs

When Prakash (name changed) completed his Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree from a reputed college in the city, he wanted to start working immediately. However, he realised that the jobs in the market didn’t match his salary expectations. After working at a BPO for a few months, he decided to join a TNPSC coaching centre, with the intention of bagging a secure job.

With more than 400 engineering colleges in the state and more than 1 lakh students passing out of these colleges, there is a huge demand and supply gap. As a result, like Prakash, there are an increasing number of engineering graduates, who are taking the TNPSC route in search of safe jobs.

Sam Rajeswaran, Director, Appolo Study Centre and State-Coordinator for Manidha Naeyam IAS Academy, says he has been noticing the trend for the last few years. “Out of 25 candidates taking up TNPSC group A exams, there are roughly 21 candidates with an engineering background at Appolo. There are several positions that require technical knowledge and an engineering degree comes in handy for them. Now the trend can be seen in IT sectors too,” he says.

For close to six years — combining school and college — engineering students have a detailed exposure to subjects related to logic and reasoning. The same topics form a huge portion of questions in TNPSC exams. Shankar, director of Shankar IAS Academy says, “Out of 200 questions, 50 comprise topics relating to maths and reasoning.” He adds that the success rate is higher among these students.

Karthi, director of United Academy, however, adds that an engineering degree should not be considered as a sure shot route to success in TNPSC exams.

He says, “Moulding maybe easier in the case of an Engineering graduate, but that alone doesn’t guarantee success. It is also not to say that Arts and Humanities don’t stand a chance. But of course, engineering graduates have an edge and the potential has to be combined with more hardwork,” he adds.