Industry Practice

First steps into the corporate world

As veterans of the Indian software services sector, NIIT University’s (NU) founders are only too aware of the gap between the competencies demanded by Indian industry and the skillsets of young recruits. So, the framework of NU’s pedagogy was built on the solid foundation of its four core principles – industry linked, technology-based, research-driven, and seamless.

For new graduates to thrive in the jobs of their choosing, it is critical that the focus of their education is linked to the industries of their choice. Cognisant of the benefits of imparting an education that is in step with the needs of, and advancements in, industry, NU developed a flagship programme called Industry Practice.

Academia-industry collaboration

NU’s focus is not on rote learning, but on experiential learning and practical training so that students are job-ready and able to tackle real-life problems even before they enter the workforce. Therefore, our BTech programmes have 35% weightage given to practical learning opportunities. Part of this practical training is the Industry Practice programme that gives undergraduate students a chance to work in an industry in their eighth and final semester.

The Industry Practice course component leverages NU’s deep and enduring partnerships with over 700 industry partners since inception. The goal is to fill the crucial gap in students’ practical skills.

Industry Practice, which is managed by our Centre for Industry Collaboration (CIC), seeks to:

Meet the rapidly changing needs and challenges of the workplace
Enable students to learn by applying their knowledge and skills in unfamiliar, open-ended real-life situations, and
Be economically relevant to society

Industry Practice (IP) has received the endorsement of industry with more and more organisations joining us as Industry Partners to offer opportunities to our students to work in live projects in cutting-edge domains in their organisations. Moreover, a majority of our students receive pre-placement offer of job (PPO).

Industry organisations have long expressed interest in a longer duration IP. NEP 2020 (National Education Policy 2020) while actively encouraging internships with industry to improve employability of students also recommends offering research internship opportunities to students. These can be undertaken under the supervision of faculty researchers in own institution or other institutions, research organisations, R&D centres in corporates. This has been reflected in UGC and AICTE policy and guidelines.

With this in mind, NU provides students with three curricular architectures in the place of a single fixed architecture. This includes a revolutionary 1-Year Research Practice. The intent is to give flexibility to students to chart their own industry/research journey by choosing any one of the three curricular architectures.

The three curricular architectures are as follows:

Curricular architecture 1

6-month Industry Practice in the final eighth semester

Curricular architecture 2

1-Year Industry Practice spreading across two semesters in the final year

Curricular architecture 3

1-Year Research Practice spreading across two semesters in the final year.

NU’s industry-linked curriculum prepares students for the industry and makes them job-ready.

Internship structure

Industry Practice projects are generally multi-disciplinary in nature and comprise pre-defined real-time problems identified by the industry partner. After a brief orientation, students are encouraged to work independently and must periodically defend the technical aspects of their work through written and oral presentations. Students are mentored by a master in residence, an off-campus faculty mentor and an industry professional.

Students can also do a self-run Industry Practice on a startup idea of their own or take up a research-based Industry Practice with one of our international research partners such as Carnegie Mellon University or the University of Southern California.

My Industry Practice experience was invaluable in shaping my career, and I am happy to say that I am currently working with the same team, offering cyber security to clients.” — Shivani P, Ernst & Young

The CIC team was really resourceful as it helped me bag the best offer as per my profile.” – Sudha Chaudhra (BTech, ECE-Robotics & IoT), Class of 2022. Industry Practice: Effectual Services

Consistent record

NU has attracted over 800 unique Industry Practice partners since inception. This includes the crème de la crème of Indian industry. Our industry partners look not just for technical knowledge but also leadership potential, communication skills and an enterprising attitude while offering internships. NU’s focus on all-round development ensures that our students more than measure up to these requirements, as evidenced by the large number of repeat hiring firms, and the stipends they offer, each year.

In 2022, for instance, firms such as Morgan Stanley, IBM, Cisco, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Genpact and BigBasket offered internships to our students. Morgan Stanley offered the highest stipend, ₹ 87,000, for Industry Practice in India. Internationally, UQAC of Canada offered the highest stipend of ₹ 82,833. The average stipend was ₹ 24,884.

In addition, 69 new industry partners came on board, a testimony to the value that our students provide. Our students, in turn, gained exposure to a wide variety of specialisations such as artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security and biotechnology.

The curriculum at NU is highly focused on projects and practical learning, which helped me a lot in my Industry Practice interviews. The CIC came up with wonderful IP opportunities for all of us. All the CIC members helped me throughout the process with everything from sharing preparation materials to mock aptitude tests and interviews to resume building – Nikhil Khandelwal (BTech, CSE, Class of 2022), Industry Practice: Cognitive Data Scientist Intern, IBM

The experiential and cooperative learning they gain through Industry Practice helps to hone students’ problem-solving and leadership skills, as well as build team spirit and initiative. It gives them an opportunity to transfer their theoretical learning from the classroom to solve real-life issues in the workplace. Since Industry Practice takes place just before placement, the course enables students to prove that they can be the right fit for a broad range of roles and facilitates their seamless transition from university students to employed professionals.