The Department of Computer Science of VVM’s Shree Damodar College of Commerce & Economics in association with SAP LABS, Bangalore organized a pre-hiring orientation on the Scholar@SAP program for SY and TY BCA students on 23rd June, 2017. 60 students along with faculty members attended the session. Ms. Jisa Mary John from the Early Talent Team, Mr. Kumar, Senior Software Developer and Ms. Raniya from the Human Resource Department of SAP Labs were the resource person for the session from SAP team. The session aimed at creating awareness among the students of the career opportunities offered by SAP through the Scholar@SAP program.
With the idea of conventional classroom teaching method withering away, especially for the professional courses, the Scholar@SAP program offers students a hands-on-experience in the study area along with theoretical knowledge. Scholar@SAP is a vocational training programme that provides education-cum-work experience for the students. The aim of the programme is to mould a group of young professionals who would meet the talent requirements of SAP Labs India. Scholar@SAP is a four year course in eight semesters.
Mr. Kumar and Ms. Jisa, through their meticulously designed presentations gave the students a quick glimpse of SAP as an organization, its infrastructure, its work culture, facilities and career opportunities. Mr. Kumar moved on to introduce the Scholar@SAP program and briefed the students regarding the eligibility criteria. The most attractive aspect of Scholar@SAP is the on-the-job training. The students under this programme would work during the weekdays (Monday to Friday) on various live assignments. There would be academic classes on weekends at the SAP campus by BITS Pilani faculty.
In the first two years of the programme, the students get an opportunity to work on three different assignments of seven months duration each. In the next two years, the students can pick any one topic out of the three and continue working on it in a broader way. Once the students complete four years successfully, they will be formally inducted by the company into their broader area of study during the last two years. SAP Labs India pays towards the entire tuition fees of the programme for every student. Apart from that, it also pays Rs. 16,000 per month in the first two years and Rs. 25,000 per month in the last two years. Under the Scholar@SAP, the students have an option to get placed in SAP Labs India on the basis of their performance after the first two years of the programme.
The next session was on enhancing the confidence of the students to face interviews. Ms. Raniya from the SAP team shared some of the experiences of jobseekers and recruiters during their interviews. She emphasized that 30 minutes at an interview would decide their future course of life and it was crucial for students to focus on soft skills along with technical knowledge. She also suggested some basic concepts in the core areas of computer science the students should be focusing on.
All in all, the session was an eye-opener for the students giving the students yet another area to explore as a career option. It reinforced the importance of strong fundamentals in domain knowledge, good academic record and soft skills in the corporate world.
