Unemployment and Skills Gap: What Training Do Engineering and MBA Students Really Need?

Hi, nowadays, unemployment is gradually increasing year by year. I want to conduct a small research project on unemployment. In which areas do individuals fail to get jobs? What skills are required by companies from students? What types of training do they need to gain these skills? I need to get more inputs from citehr.

Your research will end up accumulating more points, which you can summarize at the end of your survey.

INDIAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM NEEDS TO BE MODIFIED/CHANGED

1. Curriculum design and subjects taught should meet market/relevant industry demand.
2. MNCs must come up with their own curriculum and collaborate with universities seeking admissions.
3. Skill-based programs should be given top preference.
4. Various competencies should be taught before the end of the course.
5. Students must be allowed to work for a stipulated period of time to gather experience and then promote to the next semester or module.
6. Soft skills must be a part of every curriculum.
7. Faculty must be trained, certified, and have a minimum experience to take up the teaching profession.
8. College management must not commercialize the educational system, charge more, and offer low-quality services.
9. Parents must allow their children to take courses as per their interest.
10. Students must not be allowed to take up courses which they cannot pursue due to lack of specific skills.
11. The medium of communication must be English, not just limited to writing.
12. Specialized certifications should be given more preference to support graduate & postgraduate programs (curriculum must be precise) with regard to experience and to progress to the next level.

These are only views. Correct if I am wrong.

With profound regards,
Regards

Dear Ms. Dhaarani and Mr. S A Khadir, you have mentioned very detailed points to clarify the above query.

In addition, if we see today, most educational institutes are emerging in the private sector in almost all courses. Some of them (not all) have commercialized the education system. Now, students can take admissions very easily in any course, whether MBA or Engineering stream. Some students are getting admissions not because of their choice but due to prestige issues. It shows that they will not take interest in the particular course, which shall adversely affect the education environment for genuine students.

I have personally experienced the conceptual skills gap in the candidates. As you might know, for a technical course, most of the questions we ask from the candidates are related to the practical training they attended in the industrial house. What I found is that the students can't give satisfactory answers to the questions. The reason may be that the industrial houses do not have sufficient time to give them the training and relevant projects for work.

Being new to the culture, the student trainees don't force the company representative to give them adequate training and guidance. This is a major point for students not getting jobs after completing their particular course. So, it is the moral and social responsibility of the industrial houses to impart proper and adequate training to the students (training as part of their curriculum).

Another point, as already explained by my friends, is that more interaction between industry and education institutes is to be improved to know the needs of one another. Moreover, the demand and supply gap of manpower is increasing, which further worsens the situation.

Thanks

Dear Mr. Prasad,

You mentioned that unemployment is increasing year by year. This is not entirely accurate. It is the unskilled and inexperienced workforce that is growing annually. There are numerous job opportunities available across various industries. The main issue lies in the lack of experienced, qualified, skilled, and certified professionals.

With profound regards

The streams to which you refer talk about a larger base of unemployed youth, but the delivery is different for both sets in employment. For MBAs, it is all about live cases and understanding the application of concepts. For engineering students, it's all about technical clarity. However, the only strain to all these youths is clarity of the fact: certification disregarded, they are freshers in the industry and need to start from the grassroots level and move up. It should not be an assumption that the MBA or engineering degree makes you better. Every company has its own specifications for the jobs, and induction is fixed. It is post-induction performance that can ensure growth. Until then, at every interview, MBAs and engineers still perform the same as fresh graduates, as vocational education leaves a big time gap without traineeship and on-the-job exposure. So, I guess rural internship for medicine delivers well!

The issue of unemployment is a universal phenomenon and is not limited to any one country. No country can claim to have zero unemployment. In your case, you are interested in conducting research in this vast area, which is akin to an ocean in itself as employment opportunities span across all sectors. It is essential to first decide on the sector you wish to focus on, be it banking, engineering, legal, etc. Once you have made this decision, you can then proceed with your work. It is also crucial to consider the regional aspect of employment. Will you be focusing on a local or national level?

Before moving forward, there are numerous questions that need to be addressed. As for skills, they can be broadly categorized into technical or functional skills acquired through education and work experience, and soft skills or managerial skills essential for success in the professional world.

I recommend conducting thorough research before proceeding further. Employment statistics can be obtained from government bodies that specialize in this area, which may assist you to some extent.

Best Regards.

Ask the students to get their fundamentals right and at least do some homework beyond the syllabus.

Dear Ms. Dhaarani and Mr. S A Khadir,

You have mentioned very detailed points to clarify the above query. In addition, if we see today, most educational institutes are emerging in the private sector in almost all the courses. Some of them (not all) have commercialized the education system. Now students can take admissions very easily in any course, whether MBA or Engineering stream. Some of the students are getting admissions not because of their choice but because of some prestige issues. It shows that they will not take interest in the particular course, which shall affect the education environment adversely for the genuine students.

I have personally experienced the conceptual skills gap in the candidates. As you might be knowing, for a technical course, most of the questions we ask from the candidates are related to the practical training he/she attended in the industrial house. What I found is that the students can't give satisfactory answers to the questions. The reason may be that the industrial houses do not have sufficient time to give them the training and relevant projects for work. Being new to the culture, the student trainees don't force the company representative to give them adequate training and guidance. This is a very major point for not getting jobs for the students after completing their particular course. So it is the moral and social responsibility of the industrial houses to impart proper and adequate training to the students (training as part of their curriculum).

Another point, as already explained by my friends, is that more interaction between industry and education institutes is to be improved to know the needs of one another. Moreover, the demand and supply gap of manpower is increasing, which further worsens the situation.

Thanks.

Thank you, Ramesh sir,

How could we overcome the skills gap for students? Could you suggest a few good practices for students to expertise in their streams? What type of training sessions are needed for them?

I cannot comment on the unemployment issue, but I would like to comment on what inputs institutions should provide to students to enhance their performance in the recruitment screening process by employers. These comments partially address the three questions in your note.

Most prospective employers look for candidates who are sound in academics, possess aptitude and attitude suitable for the job, have clarity in approaches to problem-solving, and possess good verbal and written communication skills.

Enhancing Employment Opportunities for Students

Based on the above hypothesis, one could say that students need the following to enhance their employment opportunities. Institutes need to take steps to cater to these requirements:

- **Strength and Clarity in Fundamentals and Concepts:** Institutions need to ensure that lecturers put in extra effort to make students understand the fundamentals. For this purpose, small tests or quizzes may be introduced within the lecture sessions.

- **Written Communication Skills:** Using simple and short sentences to express ideas is crucial. Training in précis writing helps in developing skills in analyzing and expressing. Guest lectures on the basics of report writing also help.

- **Verbal Communication Skills:** Exposure to principles such as listening to questions or statements fully before answering, responding to the point without beating about the bush, and saying 'Do not know' instead of bluffing, is beneficial. Guest lectures on this subject may be considered by the institutions. Debating competitions may be incorporated as extracurricular activities.

- **Training on Resume Preparation**

- **Vocational Guidance**

Regards,
Nityananda
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Addressing Unemployment Among Fresh Engineering Graduates

Fresh engineering graduates' unemployment is increasing exponentially. Getting high marks does not ensure employment. They should be able to understand how an industry works, which is never taught in college.

A crash program should be developed to invite senior experienced engineers to conduct orientation classes explaining the industrial surroundings, how they operate, and what inputs are needed to enter these industries. The industries could be in mechanical, electrical, electronics, pharma, chemical, power, or process industries like fertilizers, sugar, cement, petroleum, etc. I can undertake a project to organize such classes.

Regards

Hello Mr. Prasad, if your research is going to be about unemployment, it will be confined to freshers seeking out employment if we leave out people with experience but remaining jobless at present for different reasons. The interviewers, while selecting, look for merit, extracurricular activities, team working abilities, and, in general, anything that makes a candidature better than others. Exceptions do exist in the form of recommendations. So, those who do not get a job, as Dhaarani rightly referred, lack in the requirements as seen above.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan
Navi Mumbai

I think students in India depend completely on classroom training and don't make use of other opportunities to learn vital skills. A lot can be learned through voluntary services in good NGOs, local associations, or spiritual organizations.

Benefits of Engaging in Voluntary Services

- Free training ground to learn new skills.
- Apply your current knowledge.
- Connect with people. You may find entrepreneurs, industrialists, or people in good positions who may help you get a job.
- Improve your listening skills, patience, and communication skills. All are important in the workforce.
- The more a person stays involved in work, the less time they will have to think negatively. This increases the chance of getting work.

Engineering Students Must Get a Feel for How Industries Work

The unemployment rate among fresh engineering graduates is increasing exponentially. Achieving high marks does not guarantee employment. They should be able to understand how an industry works, which is never taught in college. A crash program should be developed, inviting senior experienced engineers to conduct orientation classes explaining the industrial environment, operations, and the necessary skills to enter these industries.

Industries could span mechanical, electrical, electronics, pharmaceutical, chemical, power, or process industries such as fertilizers, sugar, cement, petroleum, etc. I can undertake a project to organize such classes.

I am glad to see so many responses to my suggestion that Engineering graduates should know how an industry works. Mr. Krishnapathy must be rendering services to many Engineering graduates, and they must have secured jobs. Considering the large number of engineers who are unemployed and also expecting another batch of engineers added every year, unless this issue is taken on top priority, it is not possible to find suitable solutions. The Government should exercise its jurisdiction over providing jobs. Stopping more intake by not issuing fresh licenses to start Engineering colleges is a good step to alleviate the crisis. Employment opportunities are bound to generate in the coming years. Lots of investment in the core and infrastructure sectors, like petroleum, fertilizers, agriculture, industries, construction, rail and roadways, should generate many jobs which can absorb quite a number of Engineers.

Making Engineers Industry Competent

The issue at the moment is to find ways to make them industry competent. I mean that when they enter the industry, they should have knowledge of various departments like PPC, Operations, Maintenance, Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Quality, Prototype, Design, R&D, Tool design, Shipping, Servicing, etc., and how they are interlinked with the procedures of interaction. They should also understand the various machines used, the drawings referred to, materials used, processing, operation layout, quality, and procedures adopted, ISO 9000 & IS 140001, production schedule, production plan, labor control, and so on. They should also be told about the important details they should collect in various departments, associating with workmen politely, observing the rules in the organization, safety precautions, dress code, etc., too.

Volunteering and Training Initiatives

Citi HR members can identify those who want to volunteer in this program and prepare a list of such experienced hands, highly matured and who have a flair for training, and they can go in groups to various places to educate the unemployed engineering graduates. Some NGO should also back such initiatives taken. I am confident that a large number of Engineers can get employed. My request to such persons is to keep their options open and be prepared to relocate anywhere within India or abroad on securing employment.

First of all, we have to revamp our educational system entirely. There are different types of curricula prevailing in this country, such as CBSE, Matric, State Board, etc. Each curriculum has different approaches. There should be one common curriculum throughout the country. Additionally, the education system should continually evolve to meet the changing needs of society, including the industry. I strongly believe that entrepreneurial skills, safety skills, and social awareness should be inculcated right from the school days.

There is often a gap between universities, schools, and industries. This gap should be narrowed, if not eliminated. The employment potential based on villages and agriculture should be analyzed and improved upon.

There are many reforms that need to be implemented in the overall governance structure of our country.

Regards,

There is a major challenge in updating the curriculum/syllabus of our education system. It consumes its own time. The market is changing on a weekly/daily basis, and corporates need to cope with this change. Our education system changes on a 3-4 yearly basis, that too to the tune of 20-22%. Hence, there is a huge gap between corporate expectations and the education curriculum.

We need to update according to the requirements of the corporates by updating ourselves through new concepts needed by the profession we wish to pursue. Only then will we have skilled, educated, and employable graduates.

Skills Required for Employability

Some skills required are like Advanced Excel, Financial Modeling and Valuation, Business Analyst SPSS/SAS, Six Sigma, Kaizen, TPM, TQM, Tool and Die Making, and Soft skills are most needed, etc.

For any more information, feel free to contact.

Regards

Dear Prasad,

I do not know what you do and how much freedom you have in changing the curriculum, etc., to help the students. Kindly take a look at http://hud.ac.uk <link fixed>, http://www.fas.ie/en/pubdocs/SoftSkillsDevelopment.pdf, and Curriculum | Providing Real Opportunities for Income through Technology.

While working in a university, we had tried to incorporate certain skills into regular modules as students were not prepared to attend classes when they were run as separate modules (not assessed).

Regards