Rajesh A.RHead, iRize, Manipal Global Education Services
Considering the current economy and employment trends, what areas must professionals (looking for career advancement) and job seekers focus upon to grow in their professions and/or find a new job?
A variety of industries continue to witness healthy job growth rates, even as caution is slowly seeping into hiring sentiment. Job seekers must make balanced decisions about market opportunities. The following are what we think longer term trends, compared with some others that are fads.
- The Education and Healthcare sectors are doing exceedingly well and are leading the way in employment opportunities.
- Biotechnology is a rapidly expanding field and the new scientific advances have given rise to a number of new jobs that were hitherto non-existent. For e.g., in Stem cell therapy. There is a need for technicians and the demand is strongly expected to grow with supply nowhere near the demand in this new area.
- Product design and simulation engineering is another hot area with India growing as a consumer economy.
- Wealth management is another career option on the rise with the growing asset base of the Indian citizen.
- The Information technology sector of course continues to be one of the largest employers in the country.
- Power/Energy, Real estate, hospitality and manufacturers of non-machinery products and retail are the other promising segments.
Can you provide some details of trainings/certifications that help candidates find a well-suited job? (any industry specific programmes)
There are many job specific trainings/certifications that candidates can look at to land a job of their choice. For example:
- If you are planning to make a career in the retail industry there are varied courses available that take you through the entire retail management process and provide training on store management, supply chain, marketing etc.
- Similarly with IT, there are certification courses from industry majors on specific technologies and also industry valid training programs on Storage, Networks etc.
- Another option available is the training programs in Financial Management & Analytics that also provide job opportunities across industries and also in BPO/KPO sector.
- BFSI industry related customized sales training solutions are available in the market.
- Candidates can also look at specialized training for industries like hospitality (F&B, Front Office, Housekeeping, etc).
- One can also look at training oriented certification aimed at becoming self-employed. For example: A certificate course to become a beautician, tailor, carpenter etc.
What are your thoughts on industry-academia collaborations in bridging skill gaps? (Any notable corporate venture you would like to mention).
Industry–academia collaboration is imperative today more than ever. The varying definitions of “employability” from organisations have compounded the issue. In the buoyant Indian economy where only a fraction of the graduating students are employable, corporations face the challenge of recruiting an industry-ready workforce while continually ensuring supply of talent to meet its scaling operations. In fact, the latest NASSCOM report states, “Only 25% of the technical graduates and 10% of general graduates in India are fit for employment in multi-national organisations”. Even after recruitment, companies need to spare many months before the new recruit finally starts being productive through on-the-job training.
These challenges can be overcome through a focused industry-academia partnership producing employable human capital through ‘tailor-made’ courses. In the current scenario, students too are looking for not just a degree, but a significant way through which they can either get a job or enhance their career. The need of the industry is knowledge and skills acquired with an eligibility to include skill-ready employees from day one. There is a need felt for integration of job and learning, thus creating a demand for customized programs for industry.
There are some IT companies who collaborate with academia to ensure students graduating from those specific colleges come equipped with the right credentials. They help in the development of labs, conduct faculty development programmes and organise seminars and workshops to help students pick up industry-specific skills. But the concept of collaboration is still in its nascent stage and we do not have a robust model yet for successful interaction between industry and academia. However, it is constantly evolving and we see promising trends in this area.
A much neglected, and an under-the-radar area in terms of skill-gap/skill availability is the informal workforce. There is a need for joint research projects, faculty training and more technology in education, etc. that can yield a better crop of employees. We need to bring together job seekers, training providers, certification providers, employers and other intermediaries like consulting/assessment/recruitment companies and enable a human capital supply chain in the informal employment space.
In your opinion, do professionals of today take proactive steps towards skill building, or is it majorly a corporate initiative towards building a strong workforce?
The awareness for skill up-gradation is evident at both ends. Professionals today are aware of the need to upgrade themselves and corporates also are keen on upgrading and enhancing the quality of their workforce. For example, professionals with Bachelor degrees are seeing value in equipping themselves with executive MBAs or PG diplomas from online universities or part time classes along with their regular jobs to help them become upwardly mobile in the corporate scenario. This is also evident in scenarios where employees are seeking a change in career trajectory and an additional qualification might give them an opportunity to branch out into other areas of interest.
Organisations also are increasingly aware that retaining and enhancing their workforce is a cheaper alternative than hiring a better qualified, but fresh crop from outside and retraining them on the culture, policies and expectations of the organisation. Therefore, they conduct workshops and offer certification opportunities to their employees to encourage them to upgrade their skills. These could be technical or non-technical depending on the need. Organisations may also stipulate statutory number of training hours required from every employee, the details of which would be determined by the Human Resources function. This would create an environment of constant learning and updating.
It is also to be noted that the government, and specifically the Labour and Human Resource Development ministry and related policy makers are equally a stakeholder in the skill building process. The Prime Minister’s office has constituted the National Skills Development Corporation which is undertaking a slew of initiatives in skill development. Significant work is being done to lay the foundation for a skilled workforce that suits today’s and tomorrow’s needs.
What advice would you like to give to job seekers towards building their candidature and strengthening their skill set?
With the plethora of higher education institutions and the number of professionals graduating from these institutes, job seekers today are under more pressure than ever to distinguish themselves from the crowd. Interestingly, organisations find many of these graduates unemployable despite their academic qualifications.
From an individualised, candidate-centric view point, a deep understanding of one’s strengths and matching these to market opportunities is what needs to be done urgently. Candidates need to appreciate the fact that mere educational qualifications and degrees do not make them employable. They may not secure a job, or land the right job as a result of it.
The first step for a candidate in securing a job would be to understand their inherent strengths. Candidates can seek counselling in trying to determine and analyse their strengths. The next step would be to scope industries that provide opportunities in line with what the candidate has to offer. Blindly pitching oneself to the most popular industry could lead to disastrous results. A candidate should also look at projects/internship opportunities in the industry of his choice during his academics to understand the nature of job and working environment. This would help him with industry/job knowledge before placement interviews. The third step would be to position oneself as the solution to the particular industry that one is interested in being hired into.
It is important to understand that it is not only technical qualifications that the employer is looking at, but a host of soft skills that would ensure that the employee is successful at the workplace. Good communication, learnability, showing initiative and leadership, integrity and teamwork are all qualities that show promise in a candidate.
Job seekers have to keep these in mind when they market themselves as the complete product to their prospective employer. In most cases, candidates lack awareness of market opportunities that are suited to their specific strengths and need counselling help to be able to make themselves market-ready.
Interviewed by Nimrata Grewal
Source-: Shine.com