12 August, 2014

Four Best Government Jobs for Engineers in India

Engineers are always the most demanded of all professionals in the employment market. Their high level of expertise and knowledge that they acquire through rigorous training while completing the engineering course prepares them to become a pro at everything that they do. In addition to private jobs, engineers are much required by government establishments as well. Here are some of the best government jobs only for engineers.

Everyone agrees to the fact that nothing can beat government jobs in terms of stability and security. With the new pay commission coming into effect, the compensation is also fast climbing to the same levels as comparable private jobs. Therefore it doesn’t come as a surprise that all college graduates are looking towards public sector jobs as their first option. Engineers, who come in the top tier of employable candidates, are also looking to take the mantle at some of the biggest public sector companies such as NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation and others. A PSU job is the dream of many an Indian. With the perfect pay cheque, multiple perks and decent career growth, some of the Best Government jobs for Engineers at present in India are:

(1) IES or Indian Engineering Services:

Indian Engineering Services remains the most coveted careers for engineering graduates in India. Each year, thousands of applications are received by Union Public Service Commission for a handful of seats. Even in the year 2013, the recruitment was conducted for 763 posts, for which there were almost over one lac applications. The reason behind this attraction towards these jobs is the high stature and respect that comes along with them. All appointments to the Group A services are made by the President of India. The exam conducted for recruiting IES officers is called the Engineering Services Examination (ESE) and the governing body which conducts this paper is UPSC.

Officers recruited through ESE are appointed in various government organizations such as Central Public Works Department, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Directorate General of Supply and Disposals, Indian Navy and others. Since all these organizations require high level expertise to handle the strategically important roles, the testing standards are toughest.

(2) Engineer at NTPC or National Thermal Power Corporation:

National Thermal Power Corporation is one of the top Navratna public sector companies in India. It is India’s largest power company and is ranked 424th in the 2014 Fortune Global 2000 companies. The organization every year hires engineers from trades such as Electronics & Communication, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science to work with it. These recruitments are held through written entrance examinations such as GATE.

Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineers or GATE is actually an entrance examination held for admission to the reputed IITs. However, over the years more and more PSUs are using this exam to take candidates on their payroll. NTPC is just one of the major names amongst them. NTPC has its headquarters in New Delhi and it has various offices across different locations in the country. One of its biggest operational centres is located in Noida, and thus many jobs in Noida belong to NTPC.

(3) Indian Armed Forces:

Indian Armed Forces which includes Army, Air Force and the Navy every year hires a lot of engineers as a part of its technical entry scheme. Under this scheme, freshly pass out engineers are invited to apply to technical officers post and the selection is made on the basis of merit, i.e the better percentage, the more are the chances of getting selected. Other than this, Indian Armed Forces also offer a separate entry known as CDS or Combined Defence Services, which takes graduates through a written CDS exam followed by Service Selection Board or SSB and Medical Examination. The CDSE is conducted twice a year and only unmarried graduates are eligible for applying to this examination.  

Upon selection, engineers are trained with their respective branch of armed force and later inducted as officers upon completion of the training period. Indian Armed Forces present an unmatched career with supreme job satisfaction and exceptional perks. The high stature and living standards that come with a career in IAF is seldom found anywhere else.

(4) National Banks:

Did you know that the public sector banks also require engineers and that too in a great number every year? Banking institutions such as State Bank of India or Indian Bank and others have a requirement of Specialist IT Officer which they fulfil by recruiting IT/CS and ECE engineers. In addition, there are other vacancies of Specialists Officers which often require graduate engineers. The selection to these positions is often on the basis of either a common entrance exam such as IBPS or through other individual entrance exams of banks, followed by an interview. These positions are sought after in the engineering community owing to the various perks, good salary and job security.

Contributor: Saurabh Tyagi