Tens of thousands of Indians graduate with a MCA degree every year. Given the IT boom that the country witnessed in the last three decades it has been one of the most promising career opportunities for MCA grads. As a student who graduated in this program a year back, I studied up with the belief that an MCA degree would surely find me a job in India’s booming multi-billion dollar software industry. Traditionally this has been the choice for most people who have pursued this program. However reports of slowdown in software development industry over last few quarters and stories of automation making many IT job profiles redundant came as a rude shock to me and many of my peers.So was it going to be all doomsday for us? Not really as the famous inventor Alexander Graham Bell once said “When one door closes, another opens”. And that door is Digital Marketing. I followed my friend and walked in for an interview with a digital marketing agency and today I am in total love with my job. On the hindsight if I had stuck with the idea of finding a job in software development perhaps I would still be facing interviews every weekend. In fact Digital Marketing has emerged as one of the best career options for MCAs and even engineers graduating in IT and Computer Science.
Digital Marketing, The New World Order
It is interesting to note that a decade back Digital Marketing didn’t attract the creamy layer among MCAs. With every MCA wanting to try his hand at coding and software development there were few takers for these jobs. In fact many of my peers suggested me to avoid this industry and some even termed it as ‘menial job’. Yes a decade back salaries were low and this industry was more seen as a transit option for those who failed to earn campus placements or didn’t have the required academic credentials to make it to software development.
But things have changed and Digital Marketing is seen as one of the fastest growing industries in the world. As someone who has constantly kept an eye on the job market I see it as the New World Order and one that is expected to employ most of the MCA graduates in India for the next decade. Seeing my enthusiasm many of my friends who had earlier criticized my decision ask me about the best job profiles in this industry. So here are three profiles that a MCA graduate should aspire for given the growth opportunities they promise -
Web Designing
In the last three decades this is one industry which has only shown growth. Today there are nearly 4 billion Internet users around the world and close to a billion websites. Still more than 50% of global population hasn’t ever accessed the Internet. It has been estimated than the number of people engaged in web development industry would double by 2022. And this where people like may find our dream career. What is also encouraging is the fact that millions of websites around the world shall have to be redesigned to adhere to mobile responsive standards. As someone who is working as a designer and more specifically handing clients looking for responsive web design India, I can vouch for the fact that this is surely one of the safest career options.
Search Engine Optimization
According to a research report published by Borrell Associates the SEO will grow into a $72 billion industry by 2018 and $79 billion by 2020. It is the same agency that stuck its neck out in 2008 and predicted this industry to grow up to $30 billion in 2016 and beat this estimates to eventually grow into a $65 dollar industry. More than a million new jobs would be created in this industry in the next three years. With India being the hub of global SEO industry we are expected to benefit the most from this growth. In fact SEO jobs offer a constant learning opportunity and I surely see this as one of the greatest incentives in this field. It is said there is never a dull day in the life of a search engine optimizer. With search engines rolling out new algorithms regularly there is lot of action for an SEO expert.
PPC Management
Pay Per Click Management or what is popularly known as Paid Search marketing is another interesting area in the digital marketing industry. With businesses seeing incentives in reaching out to their target audience using paid ads we are witnessing a new growth phenomenon. It is estimated that PPC spends would double in the next few years and that surely send out a positive signal as far as employment is concerned. I would love to become a PPC expert in the future that would add to my skills as a web designer.
To sum up, as a MCA graduate I was in shock hearing stories of slowdown in the IT industry but now a year into digital marketing I am happy I made into an industry that promises growth and an exciting career ahead.
Summary
In this article we take a look at how the digital marketing industry is attracting the best MCA graduates in the country and why this sector is about to grow manifold.
