IT still hot favourite of engineering students

However, when it comes to students from top-rung premier institutes (Indian Institute of Technology), the energy sector and investment banks are considered the future industries, says a report by Nielsen.

The sixth round of Nielsen's Campus Track T-Schools study points out that among the top-five preferred companies, four hail from the IT sector.

The top three preferred companies are Tata Consultancy Services, Google and Accenture. The study covered 140 engineering colleges and institutes (including all IITs and NITs) for the report.

Students perceived IT services and products, nanotechnology, management consultancy, energy, oil and gas and financial sector as the top-five industries of the future. For students in the non-IT sector, Nielsen found automotive to be the most preferred industry sector.

"Though IT companies continue to be the favourite among engineering students, we can expect to see them face the heat from unexpected quarters in the years ahead through the resurgence of the energy, oil and gas sector, the entry of financial services and banking firms into technology campuses and an upsurge of nanotechnology, the key to success for companies like Intel, Apple, Biocon, among others," said Vatsala Pant, associate director, client solutions, The Nielsen Company.

With remuneration packages in India experiencing an increase by a few lakhs every year, the report suggests that salary did not feature as an important motivator when choosing a company.

"Opportunities to work with a team of technically sound people, the chance to work in a growing sector and learning on the job to gain expertise in a certain domain are the top-three factors cited when choosing a company," says the report.