Due to the epidemic situation of COVID so many young people are losing their focus from careers. Some of them are getting confused about choosing the right career path. Besides, a large number of young people are trying to get into the industry for working but they can not find the right one. At the same time companies are searching for manpower but they also failed some time to hire the right person. To meet all of these situations Bangladesh Open Source Network is going to arrange a Career Boot Camp Soon.

And before arranging that BdOSN arranged a round table discussion titled Career Boot Camp: Industry Insight which included discussion on the following topics:

• Skillsets/ Languages/ tools/ technologies that are on-demand now and in the next few years.
• Skill gaps and other major career improvements factors.
• The expectations of the industry from a fresher.
• Hard skills and other qualities do companies look for before and after recruitment.

The event took place on 23rd August 2021. It was a closed-door discussion and the medium was ZOOM.

The guests of the session were: Mustafizur Rahman, Managing Director of Nogor Solutions Limited, Nadim Majid, Founder & CEO of Bangla Puzzle Limited, Nahid Hasan, Managing Director & CEO of Bizcope Limited,  Iftekhar Alam Ishaque, Deputy CTO of SSL Wireless, H.A. Sweety, Head of HR of Pathao, Rayhan Uddin, Lead Engineer of GotiPoth, CDN and Shuvro Pal, Team Lead, Artificial Intelligence of Zantrik. 

The session was hosted by the Joint Secretary of BdOSN and Associate Professor of WUB, Kazi H. Robin.

Kazi H. Robin started the discussion by giving a short brief about the Career Boot Camp and introduced the guests. To help the guest know each other's perspectives more widely, Kazi H. Robin asked the guests to give a short intro of themselves and their working sector/ company. 

Kazi H. Robin invited Nadim Majid, Founder & CEO of Bangla Puzzle Limited to take the floor. Nadim Majid thanked everyone and introduced his company to the guests. And said they work with AR/ VR technology and software development.

Nahid Hasan, Managing Director & CEO of Bizcope Limited took the floor and said they work on search engine optimization, web development, and digital marketing. He also added that their company started as a freelance company in 2010 and now a company was developed from that state.

Rayhan Uddin, Lead Engineer of GotiPoth, CDN said that GotiPoth is basically a content delivery network. GotiPoth is a cloud service provider and is already delivering to specific customers and they are planning to spread this service to the consumer level very soon. 

Mustafizur Rahman, Managing Director of Nogor Solutions Limited said that Nogor Solutions Limited is a software company and they develop software and websites. He also added that Nogor Solutions Limited have already served and completed several government projects.

H.A. Sweety, Head of HR of Pathao, said that Pathao has several services and among them, Ridesharing and food delivery services are the most famous. Their other services include courier service etc, She also said that Pathao’s goal is to be a one-stop solution for the consumers.

Shuvro Pal, Team Lead, Artificial Intelligence of Zantrik said that Zantrik is working to integrate digitalization into the automated industry and also working on the implementation of transparency, efficiency, and value for money. Zantrik also works with AI.

After the introduction period, Kazi H. Robin asked the guest about the technological skillset they or their work field expect/ demand from the job applicant and how those skills will age in the long run. He also requested them to answer this question from a technical perspective as they are all working in technology fields.

Nadim Majid, Founder & CEO of Bangla Puzzle Limited said that as technology is a giant field, it has so many aspects. So specifying skill sets depends on the field. Like nowadays to develop games, unity is a great tool and it will last a long time.

Nahid Hasan, Managing Director & CEO of Bizcope Limited said that Bangladesh is behind in the technology field from the rest of the world. But it is catching up with a great phase. The technologies or trends that were running in the USA 4-5 years ago are currently trending in Bangladesh. Nowadays Bangladesh is getting a lot of foreign investment in e-commerce development, image processing, animation etc. and demand for these skills will increase day by day.

Rayhan Uddin, Lead Engineer of GotiPoth, CDN said that demand will change over time so one has to keep in mind what fields have employee gaps and what is the future of that career. Mr. Rayhan Udidn advised to connect what you need to the market demand. This will help in the long run. Kazi H. Robin added another question to Rayhan Uddin that nowadays google certification and AWS certifications are now very much popular in Bangladesh, so what is the opinion of Mr. Rayhan Uddin on this. Rayhan Uddin replied that if excitement and temporary trends can help us achieve some skills or certification then it is always worth a try.  

H.A. Sweety, Head of HR, Pathos replied to the technical skillset by saying that before starting to join the tech industry one should fix the focus/ goal. And also added that the skill sets demand depends on the field as Pathao has different fields and requires different types of technical employees. But to be specific, we prefer python, java, and machine learning skills nowadays.

Shuvro Pal, Team Lead, Artificial Intelligence of Zantrik replied in a generalized statement and said that the technology field is ever-changing so one has to have the ability to adapt to change. The tech that existed 10 years ago, doesn’t exist now. AR, VR, AI are now in full demand around the world. One has to have several skill sets. He advised fresh graduates to gather research experience, paper, and problem-solving skills and also said that, while recruiting he checks these points.

Kazi H. Robin raised another question to the guest about their steps if a company fails to find resources/ employees for a specific field. 

Nadim Majid, Founder & CEO of Bangla Puzzle Limited replied by saying that most of the time we hire an employee with minimal experience/ knowledge and train him/ her up in the specific field.

Nahid Hasan, Managing Director & CEO of Bizcope Limited said that they face such situations most of the time but they have divided their recruitment process into 6-7 different layers so in the end, they choose the highest worthy candidate.

Rayhan Uddin, Lead Engineer of GotiPoth, CDN said that they do not take it as a problem as their goal is to train him/ her for that position. They recruit based on their basic knowledge of the topic and by observing some behavioral acts.

Shuvro Pal, Team Lead, Artificial Intelligence of Zantrik said that most of the time they face a lack of problem-solving skills from the applicants. Candidates should have soft skills too.

Kazi H. Robin asked about the skills that companies expect other than technical skills.

Nadim Majid, Founder & CEO of Bangla Puzzle Limited replied that they look for soft skills and communication skills, and discipline.

Nahid Hasan, Managing Director & CEO of Bizcope Limited, replied that they look for three qualities: Humbleness, smartness, and hunger for learning.

Kazi H. Robin ended the discussion by thanking the guest for joining and sharing insights on the recruitment process and industry demand. The discussion highlighted on-demand skill sets, skill gaps, industry expectations and recruitment processes.