Everyone has an impending Goa trip planned. WhatsApp groups are in place and so is the list of places that need to be visited. But somehow, and we all know this too well, the plan never materialises. But in the case of Anurag Jayanthy and company, it did. At least that's what they thought. In 2016, to make Goa happen, they offered to teach Android App Development to their juniors in Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad for Rs 600 per participant. But when they realised that it's a good business model, they shelved the Goa plan and decided to start SkillTern instead. So, thank those lucky stars that their Goa plan ultimately did not work out!
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Pick your course and get hired as an intern — sounds like a plan that a lot of people are already pursuing, right? But the win-win situation that they are offering is that, "Start-ups don't have the money to hire and students don't have the expertise," explains Anurag. So, their online sessions are delivered by start-ups and if students finish the course yet are still unable to find an internship by the end of it, they get their money back! But to widen their reach, they know that they have to appeal to those who are reluctant to opt for e-classes. And that's when the campus ambassador programme and workshops at colleges come into play.
In Hyderabad-based colleges like CBIT, Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology and 12 others, students have been trained to inspire confidence in the medium. And for those apprehensive of signing up for courses online, they conduct two-day workshops. "During these offline workshops, like the one we did at Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, where we taught students how to make a smartwatch from scratch, we encourage students to sign up for the same course online to learn more about the subject after we conclude," explains the 21-year-old. Access to mentors 24x7 is another lucrative option which puts their minds at ease.
The scope in the EdTech space is huge and SkillTern intends to make the most of it. And having their headquarters in Hyderabad and being incubated at IIM Bangalore has given them the best of both worlds. We ask Anurag, who was born in Rajahmundry and brought up in Hyderabad, which of the two cities he prefers? "We found that the engineering colleges of Bengaluru were more open when we approached them when compared to the colleges in Hyderabad. Also, premier institutes in the Garden City have incubators of their own, which shows that they are serious about entrepreneurship. So for an EdTech start-up, Bengaluru would be a better option," says Anurag.
The two courses that are a must-take, as per Anurag:
Android App Development: Taught by their in-house Product Officer and CTO, who is also an Associate Android Developer, as certified by Google
Embedded Systems: Taught by a Chief Product Officer of Pupil Mesh, this is a two-month-long internship
For more on him, check out skilltern.in
