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Low Employability Skills among Engineering Students in India
India is the worlds second largest producer of engineering and
technical graduates.
Unfortunately, many of these graduates are not immediately
employable (which is
not the same as not getting jobs). Several independent studies
have highlighted this
problem.
A recent survey conducted reveals that out of the 360,000
engineering graduates
produced by India every year, only 25% of them were employable.
It also concluded
that only 10% of science,commerce and arts students were
employable. Many of
Indias top businessmen share this concern. The skills required
by any employer are
the same whether the employer is in the United Kingdom, the
United States or India.
A ready-to-deploy graduate is one who is equipped to be deployed
on projects and
can generate revenue for the company. To bring graduates to a
state of ready-to-
deploy most IT organisations spend around 3-4 months training
them at a cost oftwo lakhs per employee. In tough times like this,
that is a cost most companies would
like to reduce Therefore, employers are keen for graduates to
have developed their
awareness and aptitude for transferable skills within higher
education.
There are fundamental problems at the design level of
engineering courses in India.
The curricula followed at our universities and colleges are
often outdated with hardly
any focus on the requirements of the industry. While engineering
education is
supposed to develop key skills such as problem solving and
process manipulation,
bulk of learning in our institutions is centred around passing
the exams that rely on
rote-memorising the content. Also, there is hardly any
interaction between industry
and academia. Given these factors, the actual quality of
technical resources coming
out of Indian institutes need not surprise us.
To avoid being overlooked by potential employers, students need
to focus on
developing transferable skills skills that are applicable across
industries, such as
thinking, behavioural and interaction skills. Students need to
be aware and look out
for every skill enhancement opportunity that is available inside
or outside campuses
and make optimum use of the same. To achieve the `adaptability'
required for
working within different contexts and situations, graduates are
now expected to have
acquired some degree of competence in a range of transferable
skills to enhance
their personal development and professional abilities. To meet
this demand, students
will be required, as part of their course, to demonstrate their
communication and
team working abilities on more than one occasion; this is in
addition to the more
technical skills required of their disciplines.
Employability skills are very essential in the current global
job market. These skills
can be termed as soft skills, which are given utmost importance
in campus interview.
The on-campus recruitment process consists of three or four
stages: 1) aptitude test,
2) technical interview, 3) group discussion, and 4) HR
interview. During the fourstages the candidates technical
knowledge, analytical, verbal reasoning, critical
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thinking, communication and group skills are assessed and at
each stage the
unsuccessful candidates are filtered out.
The different soft skills required for an engineering graduate
to be ready-to deploy
are,
i) Communicative skills
ii) Critical thinking and Problem Solving skills
iii) Team work
iv) Life-Long Learning & Information Management Skills
v) Entrepreneurship skills
vi) Ethics, Moral & Professional
vii) Leadership skills
In the case of Communication Skills the following sub-skills can
be taken into
account.
a) Ability to deliver idea clearly, effectively and with
confidence either orally or in
writing.
b) Ability to practice active listening skills and respond.
c) Ability to present clearly and confidently to the
audience.
Next, critical thinking are also important for job seekers. The
sub-skills under this
category are:
a) Ability to identify and analyze problems in difficult
situation and make justifiable
evaluation,
b) Ability to expand and improve thinking skills such as
explanation, analysis and
evaluate discussion,
c) Ability to find ideas and look for alternative solutions,
d) Ability to build a good rapport, interact and work
effectively with others.
Then Team Work another soft skill which is indispensable for
those who would like
to work in IT industries.
The sub-skills of Teamwork are:
a) Ability to understand and play the role of a leader and
follower alternatively,
b) Ability to recognize and respect others attitude, behavior
and beliefs.
