Throughout our 50-years of independence, we have seen an increase in the number of students enrolling in various public and private engineering universities. Electrical, computer science, mechanical, civil, chemical, and software are some of the most popular majors among Bangladeshi youth.
In this section of a series on engineering graduates, we delve into the modes through which an engineer goes from being a university student to a contributing member of society.
Break of a general routine
You suddenly find out you are not a student anymore! At first, this might feel great. After all, you don’t have to stay up late completing that design and then wake up early to catch your classes.
You soon realize that this comfort comes with a cost. No more classes mean no more “tong-er-addas”.
You might choose to wander on your football field, but the people that you used to play with are probably too busy to be with you. If you had a residential campus, you’d realize that you can’t have sad episodes and roam around the campus at two in the morning anymore. Perhaps your friends will make time. But even if you fund your own housing, your gossip sessions will be terribly limited because your tenant will almost certainly be strict about what time they close the main gate. Your schedule will never accommodate concerts anymore, and your new campus will almost certainly not host them either.
Small cultures that you have developed in your university have become integral parts of your life. They have integrated with your existence in a way that your body and mind crave for them. It will feel impossible to pass a day without repeating them. You will find yourself offbeat.
A fish out of Water
Suddenly, your previous routine is not applicable anymore. Usually, the majority of people face mental distress when their daily routine changes. Depression, and lack of sleep are common problems faced by the majority of graduates. Everyone confronts these in some form. But this is life, and the only permanent thing in life is change.
A change could be the beginning of something big and purposeful. Keeping an optimistic outlook and regularly talking to the people close to you could be of benefit during such circumstances.
Besides, not all change is bad. You’ll just not know until you’ve passed enough time in this state.
Family and Social Pressure to Settle Down
Here comes the real pressure!
You have just completed your graduation and your aunt comes over for Iftar. The first thing she is likely to say: “Where are you working? Have you joined somewhere?” The questions get wild and intrusive. Sometimes, you’ll just not have the answers.
“When do you start?”
“How much will you earn when you CHOOSE to join?”
“WHEN ARE YOU GETTING MARRIED??”
The intrusiveness is not confined only to questions. People love sharing “life lessons”. It’s almost like they feel like it’s their responsibility to impart their suggestions and ours to follow them like verses from the holy book. A typical conversation with “the fam” can go as such:
The Fam: You must start a job. You must settle down and start a family now. If you don’t take responsibility for your parents now, who will?
You, an engineer: … errm …
The Fam: Please don’t interrupt when I’m talking. What a generation!
These might sound very rude to readers outside Bangladesh but they are very typical scenarios in our country. There is no concept of taking timeouts before or after your studies. The concept of “gap years” is frowned upon in our culture. People have this mindset that you are competing against your peers for age.
Our society has a very wrong conception of settling down. The majority think that, once someone has graduated with a degree, he or she must quickly find a job, then marry and start a family.
Very rarely is the person’s opinion given importance.
A Very Competitive Job Market
Bangladesh, with its dense population and limited resources, has one of the most competitive job sectors. Technical jobs here are less available because of undeveloped industries and often foreign engineers and technicians are recruited because of the lack of infrastructure in our engineering universities.
In most cases, firms demand engineers with few years of experience, which makes it impossible for fresh graduates to opt for a decent job position.
Higher Studies or a Job?
Many students are torn between pursuing higher education or starting a career. Nowadays, most western and developed countries offer attractive higher education opportunities with work permits to foreign students (particularly those from developing countries). As a result, the number of Bangladeshi graduates, particularly engineering students, flying abroad is rapidly increasing.
On one hand, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find work in Bangladesh, while on the other, very promising higher education and employment opportunities in developed countries have forced our brightest students to pursue higher education in the west.
One thing to keep in mind is that, while engineering is a practical and technical field, it does not have the same clout in Bangladesh as it does in western countries.
Small industries pay very low salaries to new graduates, making it difficult for them to survive in a fast-paced community like ours. So, even if fresh graduates get jobs, they frequently leave after a few years or months and choose to settle abroad.
We aren’t discouraging impending and recent engineering graduates, but rather, giving them a fair idea of what they are likely to face in the near future. How far you go in your professional life depends on your capabilities. These capabilities will be explained more in detail in future articles.