Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to identify how undergraduate engineering students differ in their perception about software services companies in India based on variables like gender, locations of the college and branches of engineering. Design/methodology/approach -Data obtained from 560 undergraduate engineering students who had the opportunity to have multiple job offers from four major Indian software services companies through campus recruitment drives were analyzed. Chi-square test, cross tabulation and multi-nominal regressions were performed to test hypotheses. Findings -Decisions of engineering students with respect to their first-career choice are mostly influenced by intrinsic reasons than extrinsic or interpersonal reasons. While male students are greatly influenced by intrinsic reasons, female students are more influenced by extrinsic reasons. Students belonging to different locations and different branches of engineering have varying reasons for accepting a job offer. Research limitations/implications -Findings of this paper cannot be generalized as it involves students from only three engineering colleges in south India. A survey involving students from different strata across India would enable scholars to capture more insight into the perceptions of engineering students towards the Indian software services industry. Practical implications -Knowledge about the perceptions of engineering graduates towards software services companies in India based on gender, location of the college and the branch of engineering to which students belong, can help human resource managers, entrepreneurs in software services industry and career counselors to strategize human resource practices. Originality/value -Many studies have been conducted to identify what employers expect from engineering graduates whereas there is a dearth of articles that investigate perceptions of engineering students with respect to their first-career choice. This study conducts this bottom-up approach wherein different expectations of prospective employees are analysed.

India's substantial growth in recent years has resulted in a significant increase in demand for engineers. Information technology companies, now a major part of the Indian private sector, have been prominent in such recruitment, but the competences they seek in engineering students appear to be different in terms of priorities from those sought by engineering firms. Against this background, and Indian employers' general dissatisfaction with graduates' skills, the present study aims to investigate the importance of technical and non-technical education, respectively, in the employability of undergraduate engineering students. Employability was determined according to students' success in campus recruitment drives by information technology companies, that is, whether they received an offer of employment. The study used a sample of two cohorts consisting of more than 500 undergraduate engineers in total, drawn from one of the leading engineering colleges in South India. Independent variables consisted of marks scored at the higher education admission stage, grades in engineering at graduation and performance in non-technical education. The last named comprised verbal reasoning, logical reasoning and soft skills. The dependent variable was whether or not they were offered employment. The results, obtained through correlation and ordinal regression, revealed that the performance of students in non-technical education was a stronger predictor of employability than was grade obtained in technical education. The findings will be of relevance to engineering colleges because they can be used in the formulation of a strategy to improve the employability of their students. The context is a concern in many countries that those leaving higher education are not properly equipped for the world of work.

The purpose of this paper is to identify predictors of employability of undergraduate engineering students in campus recruitment drives of Indian software services companies. Data with respect to the academic background of 559 engineering graduates from a reputed engineering college in South India along with their performance in various non-technical training were analyzed vis-à-vis their performance in the campus recruitment drives of major Information Technology companies in India. Correlation and multiple regressions were performed to test hypotheses. It was observed in this study that knowledge of engineering (GPA) and proficiency in English language are important predictors of continuous employability 1 of engineering graduates in campus interviews of software services companies. It was also found that unlike in other core engineering sectors, female students are better performers than their male counterparts in campus recruitments in software services industry. Outcome of this study would be of greater relevance to college management, Training & Development professionals, recruiters as well as the student fraternity in developing those skills that are required to enhance employability of fresh graduates in software services industry.

Educational sector is one of the most affected areas during the current pandemic Covid-19. The main objective of this article is to identify those challenges that educational sector is currently facing as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19 and propose possible solutions to each of such issues. It has been observed that these challenges could be categorized into two i.e., psychological challenges and operational challenges. The study also proposes a conceptual research model for successful implementation of E-learning strategies for imparting education.