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The software industry of India is today able to offer many opportunities: in developing
software; building and maintaining hardware; marketing of hardware and software;
training; data processing; desktop publishing; CAD and many other technical and
non-technical areas. The requirement of software professionals in each of these
segments keeps on growing. With India’s liberalization policy, more multinationals
are entering the field here and even more opportunities are being created.
Therefore, there are enough number of jobs available and a matching number of
people also available.Then, where exactly is the problem?
The key problem is that software companies just do not get what they want. The
people they get, they have no use for. The skills people offer do not sell and ultimately
what can be sold is just not available. To put it simply, the spectrum of demand and
supply just does not seem to match. As one software exporter explained, “There
is no scarcity of programmers, but there is a scarcity of good programmers.”
Ideally, the software industry is looking for the following broad characteristics to
be present in a professional so that he could be gainfully employed by the industry:
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Skills in latest software technologies:
The professional should have a working
knowledge or basic skill sets in some of the latest software technologies of our
times. Obsolescence being very fast in this industry, the professional is required to
be up-to-date in his knowledge base.
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Specialization in an environment:
General base knowledge of the computer
software environment is desirable, but the professional is expected to have specialist
knowledge in one or more operating system environments. Otherwise, he is just a
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jack of all trades and master of none.”
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Flexibility in adapting to new roles:
This being an industry with fast changing
technology, it is imperative for the players to have adequate flexibility in adapting
to new roles.
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Experience in requisite skills:
Only knowing a language or skill is not enough,
but experience in actually writing a program in that language is necessary. Otherwise,
the professional is like a cook who has theoretically learned to make recipes,
but has never cooked a meal.
