The purpose of this paper is to unfold a skill set, chalk out strategies, and provide suggestions for better employability among youth. It effectively integrates the four stakeholders such as universities, educators, undergraduates, and employers for enhancing employability. It reflects on the experiences of practitioners including the author, in connecting the campus with the industry and in seeking to develop a holistic approach in the four stakeholders. It reveals that completion of the degree is only a comma, not a full stop. Undergraduates have to acquire skills, knowledge, abilities, competencies, and qualifications constantly to remain employed.
Introduction
“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future.” —Plato
After completion of studies, candidates search for employment and the employers do not get the skills they are looking resulting in unemployability among the youth. Unemployability is a global issue that is different from unemployment. Unemployability is a state where there is availability of employment opportunities but the candidates lack suitability and capability in acquiring employment despite possessing requisite educational eligibility. In contrast, unemployment is a state where there is a lack of employment opportunities despite having educational eligibility, suitability, and capability for jobs. In this context, let us also look at what employability means.
What is Employability?
Employability is the stage where individuals have the competencies and qualifications to get placed comfortably. The individuals can possess and present their knowledge, skills, and attitudes essential for potential recruiters. Kanter rightly states, “Employability is the new security, if individuals have acquired and maintained their employability then, should their job come to an end, they would be able to find employment elsewhere.”
What Constitutes Employability Skills?
In Australia, employability skills are defined as “the skills required to gain employment or establish an enterprise, but also to progress within an enterprise or expand employment capability, to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to an enterprise’s strategic directions.”
Employability skills constitute several traits and skills such as self-confidence, self-esteem, the right attitude, flexibility and adaptability, passion to learn and grow, ability to work under pressure, emotional intelligence, integrity, energy, ethics, and etiquette, etc., These skills are an extension of soft skills such as communication skills, team building skills, time management skills, motivation, presentation skills, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills to name a few. Thus, soft skills are at times referred to as employability skills as well.
Changing Mindset of Undergraduates
The mindset of the students has changed drastically with the advent of the internet where information is available at the click of the mouse. There is no secrecy as everything has been opened up thus widening the knowledge base of undergraduates. Technology has raised the expectations and aspirations of the students. There is a divide between digital natives and digital immigrants. For educators, it is more challenging if they are digital immigrants.
It is very difficult to gauge the needs of contemporary undergraduates due to the rapidly growing technology. It is indeed a tough task to anticipate where the technology will take the mankind to next level. Therefore, meeting the expectations and aspirations of undergraduates has become a major challenge for everybody.
What Do Employers Look For?
Employers look for the right mindset, tool set, and skill set in fresh recruits. In addition, they emphasize three types of skills such as self-management skills, transferable skills, and job-related skills. Every undergraduate should demonstrate self-management skills that relate to personality such as discipline, dedication, determination, willingness to go the extra mile, punctuality, passion to learn and grow, positive attitude, integrity, professionalism, ability to work under pressure, and above all self-confidence to take on the corporate battles head-on.
Transferable skills are the skills that are essential for every employer irrespective of industry or sector such as being computer savvy, being good at written and oral communication, presentation skills, leadership skills, team building skills, and soft skills. Job-related skills are sector-specific and job-specific. Every employer needs specific skills to execute tasks. It is basically about domain knowledge and can also be called hard skills. Undergraduates must demonstrate these three sets of skills to have better employability prospects.
The Role of Universities
The universities should have adequate infrastructure to meet the requirements of the students. They should create curriculum content with the changing mindset of undergraduates especially keeping the digital divide in view. The ME generation is strong with the intellectual bent of mind. They are curious to learn new things and they are eager to tread the untrodden path. The curriculum should be designed keeping these aspects and inspirations in view.
They should emphasize both hard and soft skills which are complementary. Hard skills are the academic qualifications and competencies while soft skills are the non-domain skills focusing on personality, attitude, and behavior. Hard skills can take undergraduates to industry but it is the soft skills that can ensure longevity at the workplace. Besides, hard skills focus on ‘what you talk’ and soft skills emphasize on ‘how you talk’. Currently, educational institutions are successful in promoting hard skills. However, they failed to focus on soft skills which are the major area of concern.
Provide soft skills training programs to students right from the beginning of the course. Students should be taught to face failures and cope with challenges and changes in the corporate world. They should also be taught to write resumes of failures to minimize making mistakes in the workplace.
Students should be encouraged to explore their domain knowledge. A research bent of mind needs to be inculcated to widen their mental faculties. They should be taught how to stay cool and calm under work pressure. In a nutshell, the universities have to play a pivotal role in creating skill sets for undergraduates on the campus itself.
The Role of Educators
Today’s students’ mindset is entirely different from their predecessors. They are more advanced and spend most of their lives surrounded by the latest technology such as computers, digital music players, cell phones, iPods, and video cams.
The educators have to come out of their comfort zones to meet this challenge. Gone are the days of reading the books and teaching to students in the classroom. They need to get into the shoes of students to understand and appreciate their requirements and they need to speak in a language understandable to students. Educators will lose their relevance and respect if they don’t command knowledge.
Their task is to stimulate ordinary students to unusual efforts. The tough problem is not in identifying winners, it is in making winners out of ordinary students. Educators must be thorough in the subject they teach. They should refer to all the resources and prepare a note before beginning the class work. They should use all the available teaching aids like transparencies and PowerPoint presentations and give the website references to the students for further study. They must interact with students informally even outside the classroom hours for informal feedback.
It is essential to emphasize both legacy content and future content in this regard. Legacy content is all about dwelling at length on traditional content such as reading, writing, logical and analytical thinking, and information about the past. In contrast, the future content is all about technology and digital.
Educators should reach their full potential and they need to upgrade themselves by extensive research and exploration. It builds their confidence and competence levels thus reaching their students effectively and winning their hearts.
The Role of Undergraduates
Undergraduates need to demonstrate what is essential for employers and they have to project and present the same to get employed. They should focus on job-related skills. They must know how to craft a winning resume and how to face an interview. They must undergo courses apart from regular academic ones to have a competitive edge over others and to stand out from the pack.
The Role of Recruiters
Recruiters (employers) should regularly send industry experts to educational institutions to share their experiences with undergraduates and to inform their real requirements. It provides adequate awareness about the industry. It motivates students to dream big as they directly interact with industry experts. They should spell out their requirements from time to time with educational institutions as needs are changing rapidly. It is just keeping pace with the ground realities and requirements.
They must learn to empathize with the limitations of the educational institutions. They should train undergraduates once recruited during the induction program itself. The scope and nature of the induction program should be widened to make fresh recruits more productive and competitive. They must emphasize training outside their domain expertise to enhance cross-functional competencies and capabilities. They should focus both on the aptitude and attitude of the employees at the recruitment stage itself and fill the gaps, if any, in the subsequent training programs.
Innovative Tools and Techniques in Training
It is essential to emphasize on basic principles of human learning before dwelling on innovative tools and techniques in training. These principles can be used while teaching undergraduates.
Right teaching and training methods will influence and motivate students to acquire the skills and abilities effectively. It is essential to use diverse techniques to add joy to the learning process. First of all, show the benefits of training methods and arouse interest among the students. Encourage students to be involved in the training process actively. The deeper the involvement higher the takeaways among the students.
During training, it is essential to appreciate the fact that students will have different capabilities, personality profiles, styles, and different paces for learning methods. Therefore, the faculty needs to focus not only on team activities but also on an individual’s ability to read, think, exercise, and apply the knowledge. Else the very purpose of the training is defeated. At the end of each session, it is necessary to take feedback as well as to provide feedback to the students to measure the takeaways of training.
The on-the-job training methods such as case study methodology, business games, corporate case analysis, role plays, sensitivity training, JAM, debates, and outward bound training will help a lot to convert knowledge into skills effectively. Besides, team teaching plays a pivotal role in sharing knowledge and experience with students. Let us look at a few methods of training for the students below:
Team teaching
Team teaching is a great concept where two faculty members teach a specific topic to the students in the classroom. In this method, one faculty is an academician who dwells at length on intellectual and conceptual aspects and another is an industry expert who relates and narrates the same from his/her industrial background. Team teaching blends both art and craft in one session itself leaving no room for any queries from students and also getting across the knowledge, skills, and experience to the heart of the students.
Role play
The participants are asked to enact the given roles in this method. This method places a problem in a real-life setting. It emphasizes feelings and emotions and helps in developing interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence among the students. It emphasizes empathy and brings out behavioral changes.
Case study
It is a simulated situation where the students get into the shoes of the problem, analyze, and provide solutions. It facilitates intellectual involvement and environment and emphasizes the importance of facts. During the case study discussion, students will be able to generate multiple ideas resulting in viable solutions.
Corporate case analysis
It helps the participants about the nuts and bolts of the corporate world. It furthers domain knowledge, reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills.It enhances the analytical and conceptual skills of the students.
Business games
The students are assigned different roles and responsibilities and are assumed to be in the corporate ambiance. They are assigned several exercises and activities which they will have to do in a real-life corporate ambiance. The process stimulates and aids the transfer of knowledge to the students.
Sensitivity training
In this method, the students are placed in situations where the behavior and attitude of each individual in the group are subject to scrutiny and comments by other participants. The behavior of the whole group is observed by the trainer who is a psychologist. It promotes attitude and better behavior among the students thus enhancing soft skills.
Outward bound learning (OBL) method
In this method, the students gain knowledge through practical and personal experience. This method is widely used in the armed forces to develop leadership and team-building skills among soldiers. It is also conducted in civil organizations to promote these skills. It helps in discovering their hidden potential thus acquiring new skills and abilities. A few of the OBL training methods are, field exercises as it happens usually in defense organizations, water-based rafting exercises, navigation exercises, and cliff face exercises to name a few.
Just a minute (JAM) approach
Unlike Group Discussions, this is one of the vibrant activities that instantly stimulates, activates, and challenges the students to speak out. It helps in honing their communication skills as every student will have an opportunity to speak for at least a minute, unlike group discussion where the opportunity needs to be grabbed.
Debates
Students should be encouraged to participate in debates in the classroom by giving them topics. It helps them to share their knowledge and improves communication skills. It helps them to think and respect the viewpoints of others. It promotes tolerance, flexibility, and adjustability.
Socratic method
In this method, students are actively involved by shooting them with several questions. The answers extracted from them are finally aligned and moderated as per the established standard answers. It helps in digging into their hidden talents.
Conclusion
“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” —Sydney Harris
Soft skills are more important than hard skills. Adequate skills can differentiate consultants from contractors. If you are good at hard skills you can become a contractor. In contrast, if you are smart in soft skills, you can become a consultant. Therefore, the choice is yours whether you remain as a contractor or excel as a consultant.
Completion of a degree can be treated as a comma only not as a full stop. As individuals grow in organizations, it is desirable to acquire qualifications, courses, skills, and experience in their kitty to ensure their success personally and professionally. To conclude, an integrated and coordinated approach by all the stakeholders such as universities, educators, students, recruiters, and parents is essential to enhance employability among youth.
About the Author
Professor M.S. Rao, Ph.D. is the Father of “Soft Leadership” and the Founder of MSR Leadership Consultants, India. He is an International Leadership Guru with forty-three years of experience and the author of fifty-three books including the award-winning ‘See the Light in You’ URL: https://www.amazon.com/See-Light-You-Spiritual-Mindfulness/dp/1949003132. He has published over 300 papers and articles in prestigious international publications including Leader to Leader, Thunderbird International Business Review, Strategic HR Review, Development and Learning in Organizations, Industrial and Commercial Training, On the Horizon, and Entrepreneur magazine. He is a soldier, entrepreneur, editor, educator, author, explorer, enlightener, researcher, mentor, motivator, professor, philosopher, traveler, blogger, storyteller, volunteer, futurist, strategist, and coach. He is a C-Suite advisor and global keynote speaker. He brings a strategic eye and long-range vision given his multifaceted professional experience including military, teaching, training, research, consultancy, and philosophy. He is passionate about serving and making a difference in the lives of others. He trains a new generation of leaders through leadership education and publications. His vision is to build one million students as global leaders by 2030 URL: http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com/2014/12/professor-m-s-raos-vision-2030-one_31.html. He volunteers peace activities, advocates gender equality (#HeForShe), and builds students globally. He invests his time in authoring books and blogging on executive education, learning, and leadership. Most of his work is available free of charge on his four blogs including http://professormsraovision2030.blogspot.com. He is a prolific author and a dynamic, energetic, and inspirational leadership speaker. He can be reached at msrlctrg@gmail.com.
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