WAYS TO IMPROVE THE EMPLOYABILITY

WAYS TO IMPROVE THE EMPLOYABILITY

The NASSCOM-McKinsey report "Perspective 2020: Transform Business, Transform India" said that only 26 percent of India's engineering graduates were employable. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus of Infosys, has questioned the quality of engineering graduates from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). An Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) survey reported that only 10 percent of Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduates from Indian B-schools get a job right after completing their course.These reports and many others indicate that the employability or non-employability of Indian graduates is a rising concern. 

 THE EMPLOYABILITY SCENARIO OF INDIAN GRADUATES (ENGINEERING, MBA AND OTHER MAJOR STREAMS)

Our National Employability Report for MBA Graduates-2012 figured out that at least 40 percent of employable management students remain invisible to the recruiters for they lie beyond the top 1,000 campuses. Another interesting finding from the report says  that as  many as 60 percent management graduates do not make it to deserving jobs because they lack the appropriate level of English needed. Also we found that at least 50 percent students lose out on core jobs such as those in finance, marketing and HR, since they fall weak in the theoretical and conceptual knowledge of their domain.

The scenario for engineers is also similar. Our National Employability Report for Engineering Graduates-2012 revealed that  of only about 17 percent of the total engineering talent produced in India each year meets the skill requirements the IT product industry.

THE REASONS FOR THE POOR EMPLOYABILITY OF INDIANS

 Experts have opined various reasons attributing to poor employability ranging from K12 education, selection procedure in our graduate colleges, curriculum and quality of teaching, student interest and lack of corporate involvement. Unfortunately, most of these reasons have some part to play in this huge challenge.

REMEDY OR LONG-TERM SOLUTION TO INCREASE THE EMPLOYABILITY OF INDIAN STUDENTS

 There are no short cuts to bridging this gap. However, we feel that immediate identification and quantification of the gap, short term vocational band-aid and long term structural interventions in education can serve considerably in bridging it. Our approach has been to create an ecosystem to help identify employability gaps, provide quantitative and qualitative feedback at various levels be it an individual, institutional, regional or national level to help bridge the employability gap in a constructive manner.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING/SKILL BASED COURSES

Vocational courses can definitely aid in bridging the employability gap. An individual, after proper identification of the gap, can avail vocational courses to shorten or eliminate the same. Vocational and skill based courses also help enhance niche skills required in corporates that are typically looking for specific skills.

ADVICE TO GRADUATES TO IMPROVE THEIR EMPLOYABILITY QUOTIENT

 It is imperative for students these days to understand and realise the structural gaps in the system and also their personal inefficiencies. Students need to understand the importance of structured assessments and appropriate guidance to move in the right career path.

A student aware of his or her strengths and areas of improvement can work in the right direction to enhance their employability quotient. After students identify their weaknesses and shortcomings, they can turn to various low cost, paid or free resources (such as MIT Edx, IIT course content, Khan Academy, etc.) that can help them become employable!