~11,800 students register for online challenge, over 1600 partake in cognitive computing & cloud workshops
IBM in association with Venturesity, is conducting a first of its kind “Career Challenge” for students. The initiative was launched across 
many leading educational institutions in India in partnership with Venturesity and IBM India’s University Relations team. Online registrations started on July 15, 2016 and conclude with a finale that will be held across cities in the first week of October, 2016. So far, ~11,800 students across India have registered for this online challenge.
Most engineering graduates in India are considered unemployable in their domain due to the lack of market-relevant skillsets. With a view to bridge the skills gap in emerging technology areas, engineering students across India can register to be a part of engaging workshops in the areas of mobile app development, cognitive computing including IBM’s Watson technology and data analytics. The workshops will be held in 8 regions throughout India for a total of 24 workshops. The tutorials focus on training include interactive workshops on IBM’s Bluemix Cloud platform –as- a- service (PaaS) that will enhance their practical skills. Following the workshops, students will be invited to take part in a Hackathon where they will develop innovative apps using these emerging technologies.
According to Mona Bharadwaj, Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, University Relations, IBM India / South Asia, “The main focus of this initiative is to help make students industry ready, therefore more employable and to serve as an open platform enabling hidden talent across the country to have the opportunity to be spotted. If these preliminary sessions are any indication, the goals are already being met.”
Subhendu Panigrahi, Co-Founder of Venturesity, adds, “This initiative is a great way for companies to introduce themselves and their technologies to the student community. It also helps them to build a rapport with the community before visiting campuses for recruitment purposes and drives.”
DibakarBala, a participant from one of the workshops, says that this was the first time he was given the opportunity to train for a hackathon, and that he was really thankful to both IBM and Venturesity. He said that this has helped him overcome his fear of participating in hackathons since he felt that he was not as skillful as the other coders. He also feels that his experience in the hack camp will stand him in good stead.
Before attending the workshops, students will be required to take part in a small online quiz that will test their preparedness. Over 11, 800 students have already cleared this preliminary challenge. Six workshops have already been conducted over the weekend of 27th and 28th August, 2016, with over 1600 students attending the same. The workshops were mentored by industry experts and experts from IBM.
At the end of the challenge, participants get to win prizes and stand a chance to have their resumes reviewed by IBM India’s recruitment team for potential placement interviews and internships.
