India has been known as a land that is prime location for education and it continues to reign in its position as a contributor of brilliant minds towards the global job market. It is known for its epithet: The land of endless opportunities and obviously, this keeps on growing with every year. The service sector is mushrooming at the increasing pace and adjusting in major chunk of population who draw their livelihood from various opportunities offered in the private organisations, encompassing IT and corporate sector, the demand for apt candidates rises with the rise in the number of positions. Yet are the youth prepared for the job market?
Harsh truth is that in terms of supply, India lacks greatly in rate of employability. One needs track the evolution of talent acquisition, to find an answer to the drought of apt manpower. Talent acquisition has steadily evolved with employers now linking it to a path to monetary success—a strategic and competence driven business function.
Reports say that 95% Indian technical/non-technical graduates are unemployable, giving rise to an “Industry-institute gap”. It is implied and proven that institutes fail to train the fresh graduates with the apt skills required by the industry. A recent report by Cap Gemini, a major French firm that employs over one-lakh engineers in India, said that majority of Indian workforce cannot imbibe the required emerging skill-set and 60-65% of them are not trainable.
Fortunately, B-schools have taken up the cause of increasing the employability factor amongst its students. Here are a few core ways on which they are basing their plan of implementation:
ENHANCING SOFT SKILLS
Inculcating and improvising on standard soft skills like communication, leadership, collaboration, and time management is essential as this cements one’s position in the organisation. Soft skills have risen to hold a position of importance in an employer’s mind—a fact that has been keenly promoted by eminent B-schools. Their curriculum often warrants the presence of soft skills activities such as presentations, debates and other tools
STRESSING ON INTERNSHIP
Degree and grades may be important, but prior experience in respective field is essential. This will not only expand one’s subject knowledge but also provide an edge over novices who have close to zero experience. B-schools encourage students to opt for internships, by making it a grade-based part of the curriculum. This in turn creates a host of students who understand the practical implementations of their job role.
GATHERING EXPERTISE
Should one be very clear with basics in the subject they not only are specialising in, but also look out for ways to challenge the older tropes to create newer avenues. Technical students need to stay updated with the latest technologies and software, and vice versa for other electives. B-schools are also encouraging newer job roles to be created by introducing innovative electives. JK Lakshmipat University, an eminent B-school, follows this through its innovative electives, providing a multitude of opportunities for students to grow. Its design curriculum is cutting-edge while peerless, creating a great interest among students and peers.
INDUSTRY VETERANS AS FACULTY
Not only through internships are B-schools also introducing veterans as faculty, to supplement learning. This brings a new lease of life into the curriculum as these industry veterans bring their wealth of knowledge and expertise to aptly groom students, making them job ready. Apart from that, the growth of seminars and group sessions are also emboldening the preparedness of students.
VOCATIONAL COURSES
Since vocational and technical studies have not been given the importance that is required, a change of perspective is needed to promote vocational studies as one important component. Colleges need to be encouraged to offer Vocational and ‘Technology’ oriented programme with various combinations of any three subjects like; English, Economics, History, Geography, Philosophy, Psychology, Computer Science, Information Technology, Mechanical Sciences, Health care, Electrical Sciences, Environment, Arts, Hindi, Urdu, Regional Languages, Banking, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Marketing and a large number of subjects from various disciplines. This would hone their skills to create a job-ready persona, attracting the right kind of interest from the hiring segment.
The writer is Vice Chancellor, JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur.