Need suggestions - course in CDAC or go for job

hotshot05

hotshot05

Herald
I am in a strange dilemma here.

I got rank 107(A+B) and rank 16(A+B+C) in CCAT(July) 2013.

So I guess I will get DAC at Pune ACTS and DESD at Hyderabad ACTS.

I am an Electrical Engineer and already have a job in hand at Cognizant.
I am interested more in computers and in Embedded systems than in Electrical.

Should I join DAC or DESD? or should I go for Cognizant?

As far as I know, many product companies come for placement. This is why I am still considering them. But Siince I am an EE, don't know if any IT product company will consider me.

@booo Need your suggestion
 
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joining a big company as a fresher is a big no no from me. you will in training for few months and then you will be on bench for some time then you will end up in "some" project.
you could be doing anything from programming, testing, SAP, oracle applications, php, .net, java etc... basically you will be more than happy to get some work rather than sitting on bench.

Same could happen even if you join DAC, but only after 6 months. but its guaranteed that you will get into some company(placement record of pune cdac). DAC is a good course for learning but doesnt hold much value in your resume after few years.

now, if you take DESD. you will most likely end up working as a device drivers guy (codecs, bsp etc...). And since you are EE, picking up embedded becomes easy. there are lot of companies too. like xilinx, freescale, mentorgraphics, dlink, qualcomm etc... and the pay will be on the higher side.

so, if you want to be a hardcore programmer, I would suggest that you pick up DESD for kernel programming or pick up DAC and make sure that you get into either java or .net streams in small companies. being a programmer, I wont suggest testing,sap etc...

otherwise you can join cognizant and do whatever they will put you to and fly away after few years.
 
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@booo Are you in contact with anyone who has done DESD course?
How many people get the kernel development jobs?

Many people have said that throwing away a job offer is not a very wise decision. Also there is no guarantee of a job after the course.
Also people who are working in the embedded industry are asking me to stay away since the pay is too low. Other than kernel development, the rest of the work depends on VLSI a lot. I don't know anything about it. And if one wants to get into VLSI field, M.Tech is mostly required.
 
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Whichever course* you take, ultimately you are going to end up in some IT company or Tech department of any non-IT company. The sooner you get acclimatized to corporate culture, the better. Who knows when the tide will turn over... not many land up with opportunities in companies like Cognizant.

Try to find ways for further studies/learning while you are at the job.

* joining a company or further learning.
 
gauravH said:
Whichever course* you take, ultimately you are going to end up in some IT company or Tech department of any non-IT company. The sooner you get acclimatized to corporate culture, the better. Who knows when the tide will turn over... not many land up with opportunities in companies like Cognizant.

Try to find ways for further studies/learning while you are at the job.

* joining a company or further learning.
Click to expand...


Can you suggest some ways of learning while on the job?
Browsing through StackExchange? or reading books? or learning a language on my own? or doing courses on Coursera?
 
hotshot05 said:
@booo Are you in contact with anyone who has done DESD course?
How many people get the kernel development jobs?

Many people have said that throwing away a job offer is not a very wise decision. Also there is no guarantee of a job after the course.
Also people who are working in the embedded industry are asking me to stay away since the pay is too low. Other than kernel development, the rest of the work depends on VLSI a lot. I don't know anything about it. And if one wants to get into VLSI field, M.Tech is mostly required.
Click to expand...

my brother is mtech vlsi. embedded and vlsi are completely different.
 
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@booo What does the embedded domain include?
I thought it is mostly about creating solutions to specific problems using a controller. For the controller, either a microcontroller or an FPGA can be used. Most devices are turning towards FPGA's as far as I know. That is because the internal connections and pin mapping can be changed fully on the field. FPGA's fall under the domain of VLSI people, I think.

Are kernel developers embedded guys or normal software guys?

How easy/difficult is it to get a job at xilinx, qualcomm, dlink? Any idea?
 
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hotshot05 said:
@booo What does the embedded domain include?
I thought it is mostly about creating solutions to specific problems using a controller. For the controller, either a microcontroller or an FPGA can be used. Most devices are turning towards FPGA's as far as I know. That is because the internal connections and pin mapping can be changed fully on the field. FPGA's fall under the domain of VLSI people, I think.

Are kernel developers embedded guys or normal software guys?

How easy/difficult is it to get a job at xilinx, qualcomm, dlink? Any idea?
Click to expand...

I cant authoritatively tell you whats what, but from what I understand, Embedded is mainly programming for microcontrollers, ASICs and FPGAs. its basically c programming with RTOS and drivers. on the other hand VLSI deals with design verification etc... which basically occurs even before the chip design is taped out to the foundry. AFAIK, there are many companies here in Hyderabad and Bangalore which do this stuff. but I exactly don't know if getting a job is easy.

basically it boils down to one thing, that is your interest. do you want a job security which is in your hands or you want to do exactly what you love to do.

I would not suggest a fresher into a big mnc, but its my personal opinion.
 
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hotshot05 said:
Can you suggest some ways of learning while on the job?
Browsing through StackExchange? or reading books? or learning a language on my own? or doing courses on Coursera?
Click to expand...
No, that you'll anyways use while on the job... willingly and forcibly :D

Companies have tie-ups with some institutes/universities to train their staff. Some of these courses are mandatory for each rank (mostly online). If you spend some time with the company and wish to stay with them, then they may sponsor you for these courses. Some people go for higher studies, either sponsored by company or after taking unpaid vacation (i.e., there job is secured). More time you spend with good companies like cognizant, the easier it gets to climb up the corporate ladder.
 
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^IMO LKPDD is worth it, although you can find load of tutorials online for free and on youtube, you wont be able to understand head or tail from them. most of the time you will be lost. I feel this course is structured to give you a good head start in to the kernel. trust me, its only head start.

even for system programming, learning gdb itself will take you few years to master.
 
@booo Since I know nothing about Linux System programming, I should do LSP before LKPDD. Right?

And do there certifications hold any kind of value? These are online learning materials after all.

P.S - Did you just look at the contents of the course on their website? Or have you done this course?
 
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I joined CDAC DAC this february. I can tell you some facts but ultimately you have to decide.
Yes, lot of companies come to CDAC for placement but their shortlisting criteria is your 10th 12th Engineering and CDAC marks. You will get maximum calls if you have 70+ in all 3.
There is no doubt that these is lot to learn in CDAC but don't get your expectations too high as you will be taught 8 technologies in just four months.
CDAC is going to be stressfull if you aren't passionate.
I don't recommend you to join Electronics related courses as placement of these courses in pune is very bad.
 
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hotshot05 said:
P.S - Did you just look at the contents of the course on their website? Or have you done this course?
Click to expand...

I havn't done those courses, but I work in that field. as I said earlier, you can find those learning materials for free online, but you will get confused on what to learn and loose focus.

I dont know much about the current placement record since its almost 10 years for me now.
 
Go for CDAC .. you will have much better in-campus placement opportunities from thereon .. mostly in Product companies.

Few of my friends did a CDAC course immediately after B.Tech and lucked out pretty well compared to the rest of the BTech lot.
 
satan194p said:
I joined CDAC DAC this february. I can tell you some facts but ultimately you have to decide.
Yes, lot of companies come to CDAC for placement but their shortlisting criteria is your 10th 12th Engineering and CDAC marks. You will get maximum calls if you have 70+ in all 3.
There is no doubt that these is lot to learn in CDAC but don't get your expectations too high as you will be taught 8 technologies in just four months.
CDAC is going to be stressfull if you aren't passionate.
I don't recommend you to join Electronics related courses as placement of these courses in pune is very bad.
Click to expand...

I have 90+ in Class 10, 80+ in Class 12 and a CGPA of around 8.4 in my B.Tech.
The only problem is that I have done my B.Tech in Electrical Engineering. Will it affect my chances at the product companies? @dexBG

If I do choose DAC, should I choose Pune or Bangalore? Pune has almost 240 students whereas Bangalore has around 90.
 
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Both Bang/Pune are equally good AFAIK ..
I'm not too sure about the Elec Engg bit, it shouldn't matter I believe. Please check.

I'd suggest Bangalore .. lots more opportunities there as a city.
 
Only centres worth taking are CDAC pune, CDAC bangalore and Sunbeam pune for DAC course. These three centers get filled first.
Sunbeam Pune is private, their admin is quite good and they put lot of effort on each and every aspect of placement(Some students go for Sunbeam pune rather than CDAC pune)
There is common campus placement at pune where all students from different centers of pune sit together.
But, I must warn you that you have to be a saint for next six months. Try to prepare as much modules as you can before joining DAC as it's not going to be easy to learn 8 technologies in 4 months.
Learn atleast C, C++ and DS
 
I got Know-IT Pune for DAC course...is it worth joining there ?????? around 750 students were before me in the first round...should i go for the second counselling ?? is there any chance of getting CDAC Pune or CDAC Bangalore ?????????
 
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