How a B.Com or B.A. graduate switches to IT, step by step

Every week, someone with a B.Com, B.A., BBA or B.Sc. degree sits across from one of our counsellors and asks the same question: "Can I really get an IT job, or is that only for B.Tech people?"

The honest answer is yes, you can, and a large share of the people we have placed did exactly that. But "yes" is not the useful part. The useful part is how, because most non-IT graduates who fail do so not from lack of ability but from following the wrong sequence: a random online course, then another, then months of rejections that feel personal.

Here is the sequence that works.

Step 1: choose a role, not a language

The most common mistake is to start with "I'll learn Python" or "I'll learn Java" because a friend said so. A language is not a job. A role is a job.

For a non-IT graduate, three roles have the best record in India:

• Oracle database administrator (DBA). Every bank, telecom company and large enterprise runs databases that must be kept running, backed up and tuned. DBAs are hired for reliability and logical thinking, and the demand has been stable for twenty years.
• Cloud administrator or cloud engineer on AWS, Azure or OCI. The same idea, applied to servers, storage and networks that live in the cloud.
• Cloud support engineer, which is often the first rung of the ladder above, and hires freshers in volume.

What these roles share: they are operations roles. Employers care whether you can follow a process precisely, diagnose a problem calmly and keep learning. None of that requires having written code since the age of fifteen.

Anjanee, an Arts graduate who finished college in 2024, wrote in her Google review that she was told repeatedly, "many B.Techs are struggling, how will you get in?" She followed the process and got her first job in the IT industry at an MNC.

Step 2: build the fundamentals everyone skips

Whatever role you choose, three foundations underpin it:

1. Linux. The operating system behind almost every server and cloud.
2. SQL and database concepts. How data is stored, queried and protected.
3. Networking basics. How machines find and talk to each other.

Non-IT graduates who jump straight to a cloud console without these end up memorising clicks they do not understand. That shows in interviews within five minutes.

This is why we built the IT Foundation Program. It exists for one reason: to take a graduate from any discipline and make the first month of a specialist course feel normal instead of terrifying.

Step 3: pick one specialisation and finish it

After fundamentals, choose one track and complete it. Not two in parallel. Not "a bit of everything".

Our programs run for about 7 months, live and instructor-led, because that is roughly how long it takes to go from zero to a person who can be trusted with a production system. Shorter courses exist. They produce people who can pass a quiz and not much else.

For most non-IT graduates we recommend one of:

• Database Architect, the Oracle DBA path we have taught since 2014;
• AWS or Azure cloud, if you prefer infrastructure to data;
• OCI, if you want a lower-competition path tied to the Oracle ecosystem.

If you are unsure which, read our comparison of the three clouds, or ask a counsellor. The choice depends on your interests and the companies you are targeting, not on which course is "best".

Step 4: do the labs, all of them

Live classes teach you concepts. Labs make you employable. Every lab you skip is a question you cannot answer in an interview.

Ashutosh, who spent seven years in a non-IT field before joining us, credited exactly this in his review: the trainers' "emphasis on hands-on practice made all the difference." Sahil, also from a non-IT background, was employed at an IT company within six months of his internship and said the difference was "real project-oriented training" rather than theory.

Treat lab time as sacred. Two focused hours a day beats a weekend binge every time.

Step 5: build a CV that a recruiter will read

A non-IT graduate's CV needs to do one job: make the recruiter stop worrying about the degree within the first ten seconds.

That means:

• Skills first, education later. Lead with the technologies and the certifications you are preparing for.
• Projects with specifics. "Set up a two-node Oracle database with daily RMAN backups and tested a restore" beats "Learned Oracle DBA".
• No apologies. Do not write "although I am from a commerce background". Write what you can do.

This is part of our placement process: CV preparation to industry standard, before your profile ever reaches a company.

Step 6: practise interviews before the real ones

The first three interviews of anyone's career are usually a disaster. The trick is to make those three happen in a room with a mentor instead of with a hiring manager.

Mock interviews conducted by recruiters and industry people are built into our placement program. They cover the technical questions, but just as importantly, the question every non-IT graduate gets: "Why IT?"

Step 7: have an honest answer to "why IT?"

Do not say "IT has good scope". Everyone says that. Say something true and specific:

"I did B.Com and realised I enjoyed the database and reporting side of my accounts coursework more than accounts itself. I spent seven months learning Oracle administration, built X and Y in the labs, and I want to do this for a living."

Ananya, a BBA graduate who had tried freelancing and several courses that led nowhere, was placed as an Oracle Database Administrator at an MNC on a package of 6 LPA. Her story in her own words is on our Alumni page.

What it costs and how long it takes

Time: about 7 months of training, then typically 1 to 3 months of interviews. Plan for a year and be pleased if it is faster.

Money: our training-only programs start from ₹20,000 and the training plus placement program from ₹1,00,000, with instalments. The exact fee for your course is given in a free counselling call, and there is no obligation.

Effort: consistent, not heroic. Live classes plus daily lab time. Working professionals manage it alongside a job; freshers can go faster.

The three mistakes that waste a year

1. Collecting courses instead of finishing one. Three certificates in three different things signal confusion, not range.
2. Learning alone from videos and discovering in the first interview that you cannot explain anything you "know".
3. Waiting to feel ready. Nobody feels ready. You become ready by doing the labs and the mock interviews.

If you have a non-IT degree and you are serious, the path is well worn. Hundreds of people have walked it from this institute alone. The first step is a conversation about where you are and which role fits, and that conversation is free.

Frequently asked questions