“What is taught in the university syllabus and what is practically needed in the industry are two different things. Most companies these days demand experienced professionals and with the help of this community, we are training students in advanced computer languages and software that are normally used in the industry and not necessarily part of the syllabus,” said Murray, who has been in India for the past four years.

With clubs in techstart.in such as ‘Java Script’, ‘blogging’, ‘security systems’, ‘Linux’, ‘PHP’ and so on, students can gain inputs from experienced professionals on various topics of their professional interest. “Every club on the website is owned by experienced professionals who guide the group members on the topic. For instance, Parag Shah is the guide for Java, Tarun Dua for open source technology and Tarun Chandel for blogging,” Murray said.

These professionals not only solve the students’ queries online but are committed to give two hours a week, which is equivalent to approximately 10 hours a month for addressing their groups. Dua, a Delhi-based professional who is the mentor for open source technology, said, “Other than guiding, we also give them tutorials and small exercises. Most of the students are well-versed with the basics and we just need to guide them in further reading. Most of the advanced systems that are used abroad are not known in India and it is, thus, important that our students know them well if they have to compete in the global market.”

He added, “Another advantage of this is that mentors on one topic can be group members for other topics. For instance, I am a mentor for open source technology but am a member of the topic blogging as I am interested in learning more about that topic.”