When I used to be reading for high-stakes tech interviews early in my career, I wasn't missing resources. There were tutorials, online guides, books, and boards.
However, what I lacked—and what most college students still lack—was context. I knew the fabric, but I did not know how it turned into use in actual systems. I may want to do issues; however, I failed to recognize what interviewers had been sincerely looking for. The missing component wasn't teaching. It changed into mentorship.
That difference-among steerage and being taught-is something I realised only after having labored at places like google and Razorpay and subsequently mentoring younger engineers myself.
Now, as the job market for tech talent becomes more and more aggressive, and the disconnect between university coursework and enterprise needs grows, I think it is time we challenge a fundamental assumption in tech education: instructors by themselves won't cut it. Actual engineers—folks who are actually building structures—need to be worried about gaining knowledge of technique.
the space between idea and fact
Each year, lots of engineers graduate with first-rate academic records; however, they have little sense of what product business enterprise existence is certainly like. Maximum has discovered the theory-databases, working systems, and data structures but has now not seen how they work in real systems that cope with thousands and thousands of users or area-case crashes.
While I was at the google search crew, our picks needed to keep in mind latency at scale, reliability beneath load, and layout that might deal with changing user behavior. Those aren't things you analyze in standard textbooks. They're things that the best practitioners can know.
This is where the authentic fee of mentors shines—no longer best as teachers who are aware of the what, but rather engineers who've skilled the why and how—who can assist students outside of the curriculum and put them together for the future.
Practice is passive; mentorship is transformational.
There may be a core difference between guidance and mentorship. Instruction conveys records, and mentorship constructs insight. A great instructor might also train you on a sorting set of rules and describe its time complexity; however, a mentor will suggest you not employ it, how it plays out underneath real traffic, and what works better for low-latency systems.
At some point in technical interviews, specifically in product businesses, candidates do not get graded on correctness; however, they do get graded on technique to trouble-shooting, design on the structure scale, alternate-offs, and clean verbal exchange as well. These are not skills found out via videos. Those are created with remarks, iteration, and introspection—precisely what a mentor enables.
What do the statistics show?
Across the world, the sample is clear: students are looking more and more for coaching, no longer merely content material. primarily based on HolonIQ's 2023 worldwide EdTech report, those platforms that integrate community, mentorship, and remarks loops have forty-60% extra retention and completion charges in comparison to people with self-paced content material on their own.
In india, NASSCOM notes that only 50% of engineering graduates are right away employable for software positions. The parent is not most effective about curriculum; it's far due to the fact there is no software to actually exist and career counseling at some point in the studying procedure.
The gentle abilities nobody teaches
The distance isn't always simply technical. Most would-be engineers are unclear about the way to explain their ideas, protect trade-offs, or even handle ambiguity in questions—all essential during interviews and at the task. A mentor who has sat on each facet of the desk can position-play these situations and provide realistic, compassionate comments—something that standardized content material cannot.
Moreover, most college students in Tier-II or Tier-III establishments aren't struggling because of ability but instead through a loss of access to networks, role models, and enjoyment. To have a person who has long gone earlier than them can de-mystify the journey, provide self-belief, and create a ripple effect of opportunity.
Mentorship isn't a luxury—it's a necessity.
Others argue that mentorship is a "bonus" or "upload-on" to education. I think it needs to be principal. Wherein the world has AI that may spit out solutions and do duties for us, what sets splendid engineers aside is judgment, clarity, and flexibility—skills that develop beneath proper mentorship.
If india is to absolutely realize its demographic dividend and create the next wave of worldwide tech skills, we must position mentorship at the center of our upskilling surroundings. Whether or not formal programs, network networks, or peer-to-peer knowledge gain, the moment to make mentorship a priority is now.
remaining mind
Edtech is converting. But to genuinely prepare students for what is coming, we need to cross beyond teaching. We should get real engineers into classrooms, bootcamps, and online forums—no longer just handy to teach, but also to impart, task, and help.
because the destiny of technology won't be created through those who know what a hash table is. It'll be created by folks that understand how-and whilst-to apply one. And only they could train that..jpg)
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel