The hall on the second floor of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Doha was filled with 86 young students in their convocation gowns. Who could be more excited than someone who is just about to graduate and embark on a journey to forge their career path? Enter Anil Pant, the MD and CEO of Aptech. "Everyone, let me teach you a magic trick...
...a trick that will help you learn how to make money," he said. For a moment, everyone was transfixed. He continued, "Stand up, raise your hands and close your eyes." A few seconds of hesitation later, the gathering was on their feet. They were asked to wave their hands and then open their eyes to look for money in their hands. But, there was no money!
As bewildered as they were, that is exactly the point Anil wanted to make, "Money doesn't appear out of thin air. You have to work hard for it," he said. He also spoke to the young graduands about facing the real world and making the right use of their skills. Following the convocation, we caught up with the man behind the organisation and he had a lot to share about the company, it's revamp and the skills they impart.
Say Aptech and everyone thinks of computer education. But is Aptech all about software?
Everyone follows us as a software training company. But it is much more than that. Today, only five percent of our revenue comes from the software education part. We have 85 percent in media and entertainment spaces. We train 45,000 people in this sector through Arena Animation and MAAC, and place them in almost every studio. Our students have worked in films like Mummy, Harry Potter and Life of Pi. We give people the skills to make them the studio head and some have even started their own. We also have brands in Aviation and Hospitality. Go to an airport and shout, “How many of you studied in Aptech?” You’ll be mind-blown. We also train people in finance and marketing. We have tie-ups with leading banks that directly hire our students.
What makes Aptech graduates different from others?
We’ve invested all our time and money in content creation that will make our student's job ready. On average, a person spends ten months in their first job. Half the time there is spent on training them and someone else reaps the benefit. But we give a job-ready candidate to the employer and that saves them time and money. Jobs are still there for people who create content. That is what we teach our students.
Do you often update your course modules?
Of course. That is the need of the hour. Big Data, Cloud and AI weren’t that popular previously. These are relevant today. In fact, we even ran a course on GST. Every small city needs a GST consultant, especially to run small businesses.
How difficult was it to run a centre in Qatar?
Not very. The centre here is 23 years old. So, half of the work was done a long time back. Most of the bureaucrats in Qatar have been associated with Aptech at some point in their lives. It is a matter of pride for us. Also, it isn’t just Qatar. We’re there in Africa, several places in the Middle East, South Asia, Eastern Europe and a lot of other troubled spots too. In fact, we’re embedded in the university curriculum of Russia.
What is the placement percentage?
100! I don’t accept anything less than 100. Everyone comes to Aptech for a job. We not only train them on the content, but we also ensure that they are groomed well for their interview. If a man is sporting a beard, we inform him how to trim it well. The women are guided with what accessories to wear and we even suggest the outlets where they can buy these accessories. Like I said, we go all the way. We have professionals working with us to help students on these tiny aspects.
What kind of screening do students go through before they get admitted into Aptech?
Let me be honest, we don't screen anyone. We accept all students. Our job is to take a person who belongs to the unemployable section of the society and make them employable.
(The writer was invited by Aptech to attend its sixth career quest held in Doha)
