‘Developing core knowledge more important than striving for a white-collar job’

Director of IIT Palakkad emphasizes importance of core knowledge over white-collar jobs for career success at graduation ceremony.

“Developing core knowledge of a subject is more important than striving for a white-collar desk job in the early stage of career,” said A. Seshadri Sekhar, Director of IIT, Palakkad, Kerala.  

Speaking at the graduation ceremony – 2024 at Thiagarajar College of Engineering here on Saturday, he said that as an academic person, the experience he gained in an industry had helped him in a lot of practical ways. 

“The hands-on experience we get on the field as a youngster will help a lot in the later stages, particularly to troubleshoot any issues or solve it in our own ways,” he added.

Rather than following money in the beginning which would hamper the growth, graduands should strive for gaining their knowledge in various aspects and the money would automatically follow, he noted.  

“In addition to gaining the subject knowledge, other skills like collaboration, basic knowledge of data, soft skills like language, sustainability to address social issues responsibly, should all be learned to have a holistic outcome of the learning,” he said. 

Though the current generation is swamped by a lot of technical terms like AI, ChatGPT, among others, Mr. Seshadri Sekhar advised students not to get carried away by such terms. 

Only when one possesses a strong domain knowledge, would that be helpful to incorporate the new technicalities, he said.