# Why I say no to college invitations

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# Why I say no to college invitations

Restored from Instagram stories · 5 July 2023

there has been countless events for which i've replied with a simple 'no' to their email invites.

there are few reasons.

1. i don't accept speaking engagements with colleges/unis where they don't allow a conversation but only a direct speech.

because they use direct speech in podiums to justify why you need to be there, what course to study, probably to push the narrative they want to push around the event they have.

i refuse to be a tool for their own initiatives especially when it comes to students.

students are vulnerable and they look upto people from the industry. any amount of misinfo or telling them, hey this is going to rob your job, that's going to rob your job. do this. do that. would only instill more fear and pressure. take them for what they are and give them more points to work on. if possible.

2. i am too blunt and honest with what I feel about certain things. i do not sugar coat nor do I waste time in pleasantries.

3. if I believe i won't be able to give anything in value to them, I don't think it matters for me to waste the time of both me and the student's.

4. most colleges ask the speakers to speak about something. mostly it's about making them study more. put more fear on the real world or something like that.

(the below doesn't hold true for tier - 1 institutions)

see. as far as I am concerned, 99% of students studying in an institution - lack guidance from where they are studying.

the 1% get guidance because they have parents who have highly educated or access to people who can help them make better choices. these guys land better internships, job referrals and what not.

i don't blame the college here that they have to run for their higher % in placements because they need that to show to the parents for the next admission.

i have no one to blame. but I have the education pedagogy at fault.

believe me. any attempt by any tier-2,3 college to improve this will only affect the status quo.

it would affect placements for 2-3 batches. that's enough time to destroy whatever brand they have built.

their success is still not guaranteed. which means losing a top college which has good revenue while you still haven't recovered your investments in amazing lab and infra - in a small city like pondy which has huge competition with 17+ engineering colleges in and around - is a tough ask. (same holds true for other institutions as well)

when i was younger, I used to be angry at the education system, I used to be angry at the colleges, and what not. the older I became, I understood what was realistically possible and what's not.

so i know that it's a slow improvement over time.

so if I can't take in freshers from a college and train them, it's rather my inability as a company to do that. i just can't afford to do that, so I have other preferences as to whom I can hire.

so whose mistake it is?

whose mistake it is that engineering students in tier-2 and 3 colleges in India don't know anything other than basic c and c++ and that too just enough to crack the entrance tests kept by the companies coming to placement.

IT sweat shops.

they made sure they can pay anywhere between 3.5-7 LPA for freshers with limited knowledge.

their hiring model is tuned to perfection.

a steady flow of the brilliant kids in a college who are forced to not know anything than what's required for them to enter into their companies.

these kids won't go and start their own because of their poor background. they won't join any other company because they can't give them 7 LPA with what they know (or forced to only know)

whereas all the average kids are mopped up at 3.5-4 LPA

these kids end up in the IT company.

and their only dream is to go onsite.

land the H1-B and their life is changed from a middle class to rich.

all while they are just scrolling away their life aimlessly when their companies bill them 40 hrs a week * minimum $20/hr if they are a fresher.

i don't blame them too. these IT sweat shops have single handedly contributed enough to the economy and as well as moving people up in the social ladder.

you understand the problem.

as someone working towards bringing better engineering culture in india, I know it's a slow step. it's a slow process.

painful. slow. i know the limitations. and most importantly, you can never blame.

because you also want to develop. but whatever you do will be undone if you are complaining against people who developed.

India is a complex country as such. happens in any developing country.

at the end, I just want all of us to be foooking amazing. let's work to that. help each other grow and shine bright.

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