Why Are So Many Students Struggling to Find Jobs? Is It Their Fault or a Bigger Issue?

What do you think is the reason for the very low employability ratio among students? Is it only their fault, or have they been conditioned to be like blind horses?

Dear Dhandabani, Would you mind telling me the purpose of your query? Are you from the education sector? Are you conducting any research, or do you run a business related to education and want to conduct some market research?

When you mention "students," could you specify which students you are referring to? Are you referring to students from professional courses like Engineering, MBA, or general basic courses like BA, B Com, etc.?

You have inquired, "What do you think is the reason for the very low employability ratio among students?" This is a direct question. Have you conducted any studies on employability? If yes, could you please share the statistics?

When asking a query, providing background information is essential. Without it, it is challenging to offer any opinions.

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Employability Concerns for Graduates

For MBA/B.Tech/PG or graduation degree holders: Overall, there is a deficiency in communication skills, and they are not quite team-fit.

This does not apply to CA/ICWA/CS students, who seem quite employable upon acquiring their qualifications.

There is a grossly mistaken notion that low employability among students is due to a lack of soft skills in them. I agree this is one of the elements contributing to low employability. This pumped-up and orchestrated perception is a product of the growth of the IT industry, where interacting with foreign clients by people working on Time and Material (T&M) contract IT projects exposed the shortcomings of our graduates on this count. One has to understand that aligning with Western pronunciation, way of dressing, understanding and falling in line with their social norms, knowing their slang, laughing with them, sensitivity to their sense of humor, table manners, and so on are just some of the elements that contributed to the perception of poor social skills and low employability.

Fundamental Competency Issues

More fundamental are intrinsic to our (including fresh professionals) competency, attitudes, values, and practices. These include our youngsters' superficial subject knowledge in whichever field, lack of depth, inability to apply theory to practices, delivering outputs to meet fitness for purpose, a holistic approach to a problem aimed at practical problem-solving, lack of interest and initiative to achieve goals, honesty in communication, empathy to others, display of confidence in interactions, professional integrity, reliability, punctuality, "Chalte hai" approach, willingness to go the extra mile to meet commitments, mixing up professional and personal issues, not respecting others' and one's own time, low self-esteem, and so on.

Cultural and Educational System Impact

While some of these behavioral traits are integral to our society's culture, there has been a degradation in value systems over time driven by access to easy money from IT growth, without realizing its short-term nature. Added to this is the commercialization of our higher education system, where the focus is on fast rolling out graduates to meet market demand, least caring for quality, unscrupulous promoters of educational institutions, low integrity of the regulatory system, low-quality teachers also of low integrity, and in essence living in a misplaced sense of euphoria.

Everyone is happy, so why change syndrome! So my submission is employability is much more than an issue of soft skills. However, unemployability has become synonymous with poor soft skills for a variety of reasons, including myopia and self-serving interests of soft skill trainers.

Thank you so much for all your contributions and efforts, especially Dfc9fc9a5a2add958475eb16e. Your answer was really awesome, and it's true. I am pretty sure it's not only communication and how you present yourself but also attitude, which includes a lack of willingness to know things in detail, the purpose of them and their study, lack of responsibility, ignorance, soft skills, and many other things.

The Root of the Problem

But the exact question that is bothering me is this: Are students the only (or primary) reason for this, or does the primary part of it come from society, parents, or our educational system? I have been in this training field for around a year now and have interacted with many students from both metros and rural areas. The major problem I find in most students is that they are really not confident in themselves. This lack of confidence leads them to seek easy ways to get a job and make their lives easier.

Challenges in Job Seeking

Even for getting a job, they are not ready to approach different companies, try on their own, understand what the company exactly needs, and prepare accordingly. Recently, I happened to interact with students in Salem, where they have paid a huge sum of money (ranging from Rs.30,000 to Rs.75,000) to a professor for securing a job. However, even after 6 months, he hasn't helped them secure a job. The options he provided were not favorable, like offering Rs.5,000 or Rs.6,000 in Bangalore for BE graduates or suggesting a few other backdoor entries. After a few training sessions from our company, some of them understood the real situation, tried things on their own, and a few of them have successfully landed jobs. Though the salaries might be on the lower side, like Rs.7,000, Rs.8,500, or Rs.12,000, they achieved this through their own efforts without paying anyone.

Understanding the Student's Perspective

Now, the question arises: even though the students are aware of their problems or areas for improvement, why do they choose to give money to others like this and end up being deceived? This issue is not restricted to rural areas; it's prevalent even in metropolitan cities. I would appreciate it if you could share your views on this matter.

Thank you once again.

Regards,
Dhandabani. M.