Popular author Chetan Bhagat feels students need to know how to market themselves and said just acing their board exams is not enough. The author cum motivational speaker was speaking at a session on the 'Impact of Digital Co-creation in Business Revolution' organised by an engineering college in Kolkata on Thursday.
"Can the guy who scores good marks but cannot communicate get a job?" the 'Five Point Someone' writer asked. He stressed on the need for the students to "market themselves". "Americans are good at marketing, they are the best at marketing," he added.
Bhagat then moved on to how education does not cover all aspects of the subject. He spoke of how students have studied about Vasco Da Gama and his arrival in India in 1948. "Questions came in examinations, we answered and got marks. But then what? How Vasco Da Gama established links with the local people in that age of zero network connectivity was never taught in schools," he said.
He also critiqued the need to get easy marks instead of exploring the topic. "Nor did we try to know as we were just happy to get those two marks for the answer that Vasco Da Gama had arrived in India in 1498," he said.
The author cum motivational speaker also said he believes that hard work can take people to places. If the students want success, they should realise that their approach to life should be, "Each pain I weather will pave my path (for success)," he said.
Bhagat told the audience, "If you really want to be successful, don't think life is without struggle." The Indian author, who has also penned scripts for several Bollywood films, said, "Just think about Salman Khan who works out for two-hours daily to look and stay fit. It is inspiring to see how he struggles and works hard," Bhagat added.
The writer of several paperbacks including 'One Night at the Call Centre' called upon the young generation to study, work and then have fun. An IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad alumnus, Bhagat had a high-profile banking job for 11 years. He quit his investment banking career in 2009, to focus on writing.
