Over the years, TalentSprint, a platform where youngsters and working professionals can take up enriching learning programmes, has learnt that building high-quality deeptech programmes for students reaps several benefits. Most importantly, if students receive good quality training at the college-level itself, they proceed towards placements with not just, say, a BTech degree, but also a very valuable skill. "Basically, it is easier to present oneself in front of the employer and it has a salary premium too," opines Dr Santanu Paul, CEO and MD of TalentSprint. Thus, they have been collaborating with various companies like Google and Pegasystems Inc. Their latest collaboration is with Automation Anywhere, a developer of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Together, they announced the launch of a Talent Development Center Initiative to build RPA skills. Through this, students of select few engineering colleges will have the opportunity to opt for a coveted Master's-level certification while still pursuing your studies in college.  

On offer
The goal, Dr Paul tells us, was to reach a certain level of capability while in college. "And that's quite a feat because otherwise, one has to work a lot to attain this," he adds. TalentSprint's collaborators, the California-based unicorn Automation Anywhere, will source their talent pool for their platform so that they can work with their system integration partners like Infosys. TalentSprint will conduct bootcamps, online classes, practice labs while the certification will be offered by Automation Anywhere. "Basically, we are the makers and they are the checkers," Dr Paul explains. Assuming that this model works well, they will plan on scaling it in a manner that they can serve Indian companies and cater to the global demand as well.

Score for skills
Describing their success with other collaborators, Dr Paul informs us that around 2,500 participants opted for their programme with Pegasystems Inc. They have maintained a 90 per cent certification record and 100 per cent placement record. Many draw higher salaries thanks to the programmes they opted for. As a reminder, Dr Paul signs off by sharing that, "RPA is an important skill for a college student to have. It is no longer good enough to pick up ordinary skills like Java Programming because it is not a premium skill. These days, advanced skills are in demand and I encourage students to pursue these skills."