Engineer your way into HAL

Gauri Chhabra

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In spite of the mushrooming of engineering colleges, engineering still happens to be one of the most coveted career options today. This is due to two reasons — one it paves the pathway to dynamism in career and secondly, due to the fact that engineering graduates have more access to Public sector undertakings, which are less affected by the crests and troughs of economy.

If you are looking for a career in which you can get a combination of high prestige and pay cheque, besides being immunised to a certain extent to job uncertainty, then Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) can be the ideal gateway to success for you.

Opportunities for engineering graduates

HAL is a public sector enterprise that designs, manufactures and maintains aircraft for the civil and military organisations in the country. HAL has been successful in numerous R & D projects for the defence as well as civil aviation sectors.

Headquartered in Bangalore, HAL has 20 Production Units and 11 Research & Design Centres in 8 locations in India.

It offers a broad spectrum of jobs for engineering graduates that involve Design, Development, Manufacture, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade of Aircraft, Helicopters, Aero-engines, Industrial & Marine Gas Turbines, Accessories, Avionics & Systems to Structural components for Satellites & Launch Vehicles.

With India’s thrust on ‘Make in India’, HAL offers plenty of opportunities to graduates from Electrical, Computer Science, Aeronautical, Metallurgy or Mechanical engineering branches. Those coming from the technical diploma route can also join as trainee. Here are some of the job profiles that engineering graduates and diploma holders can look for in the HAL.

Management/Design Trainees

HAL hires Graduate Engineers for the posts of Management Trainee/Design Trainee. These posts are generally available for multiple research, production, and design centers in India, and the recruitment is done on the basis of the score obtained in GATE.

Management trainee is actually an intermediary post in the organisational structure of HAL and you can be in technical, material management, HR or finance field.

Management Trainees are in the fields of Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Design Trainees should have a BE or BTech degree in Electrical, Electronics and Mechanical branches.

If you are in the General/OBC (non-creamy layer), then you must have an average of a minimum of 65 per cent marks. For SC/ST/PWD categories, the eligibility score is 55 per cent.

Final year students can also apply for these vacancies.

Age limit: The upper limit for general category students is 28 years. However, age relaxation is given to OBC (Non Creamy Layer) candidates: 31 years, SC/ST 33 years and for PWD, it is 38 years.

Diploma Technicians

Educational qualification: To apply for HAL Diploma Technician, you must have a regular Diploma in Engineering in Mechanical/ Electrical/Electronic disciplines from a recognised institution/state Board of Technical Education under the 10+3 system. Aggregate marks of all semesters for Gen/EWS/OBC should be 60 per cent & above and for SC/ST, these can be 50 per cent & above.

The age limit is 28 years. The upper age limit is relaxable to the candidates, subject to submission of requisite certificates.

Selection: Selection is through a written test. Candidates are shortlisted for the written test, based on the marks secured in the qualifying examination i.e. Diploma in Engineering.

The Written Test is of 2 ½ hours’ duration. The test has three parts, consisting of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Part-I will consist of 20 questions on General Awareness; Part-II will consist of 40 questions on English & Reasoning; and Part-III will consist of 100 questions on the concerned Trade. Each question carries one mark each and there is no negative marking.

Senior Flight Test Engineer

For a Senior Flight Test Engineer, you need to be a qualified flight test engineer with prior experience in Developmental Flight Testing and in AFTC / Tetra School /AFTPS etc. Here too, besides good communication skills, you need to be proficient in creating and archiving documents.

The age limit is 45 yrs. Relaxation in age limit in respect of ex-servicemen and serving officers from the armed forces is extended as per rules. For candidates who had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period of 01.01.1980 to 31.12.1989, upper age limit is relaxable by 5 years. However, the upper age limit with all relaxations shall not exceed 55 years.

Selection and placement: Eligible candidates will be required to attend an interview at Bangalore to assess their suitability.

HAL Management Academy

HMA was set up in 1969 to cater to the demand for professionals trained in the field of aerospace and aviation management. Its programmes are All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved. The courses are for executives from entry level to the senior most level in the organisation to develop functional, operational, technical, managerial and leadership competencies.

HMA offers the following courses to engineering graduates as well as executives:

Certification Programme in Aerospace Management (CPAM) : This course is a three-month full-time one being offered in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. it includes Aerospace Industry Exposure module and two-week module at IIM-Lucknow.

Executive Post Graduate Diploma in Aviation Management (PGDAM): FThis is a 15 month full-time Executive Programme approved by AICTE. The programme includes an aerospace industry exposure and International Immersion modules.

Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) : Proposed to commence 24 months full time Programmes in Aviation Management and Production Management with Aviation Industry Exposure Modules and International Immersion Module and approval to be obtained from AICTE.

Besides the above HMA also offers open programmes of 3 to 10 days in Management and Technical domains and for engineering colleges. HMA has designed elective subjects for Mechanical, Electrical and Aerospace streams for final semester students.