Employability

This weekend I was at one of the Management Institutes chauffeuring a friend rather a business associate of mine (Whom I had arranged as a guest speaker for this event) to address the students about “ Employ-ability”. The Institute had arranged another speaker also on the same subject. I enjoyed both the presentations but was not impressed by either (Call me Egoist!!!). This set me thinking..... What is employable  Is it same across the population across the industry? How can one person be more employable than the other? And what are the yard-sticks or metrics?

According to NASSCOM only a quarter of the engineering graduates are employable.

First of first, what is employ-ability? Simple terms the capacity or ability of a person to get hired and maintain the job or work or employment. So its not about just getting hired but to remain in that employment. Hence employ-ability should basically have two components:

1. Getting employed.
2. Staying employed.

Do these two components require separate skills? Yes and No. Yes (especially for freshers) since both require some common capabilities no since it requires additional special skills once employed.

Being employable actually begins much before preparing for the interviews. I believe it should first begin with identifying one's passion and interest. For this the student should be guided by both parents at home and teachers at schools and colleges. In-fact schools and colleges should have counsellors to help students identify their interests and channelize their effort and time towards achieving the same. Here I am not restricting these interests to academics alone, it can be in any field say sports, music, painting, or any other activity. Once this is done students can achieve excellence in their chosen fields.

Now let us look at how freshers can be employable. Firstly any enterprise or organization (big or small) would like to hire a candidate based upon three criteria;

1. Knowledge required to do the job at hand
2. Skills required
3. Attitude.

Of these I believe Attitude should take precedence over the other two, squarely because a person with right attitude can be imparted both knowledge and skills, however a person with abundant knowledge and skill without the correct attitude would be a misfit for any organization. Knowledge is familiarity with a particular subject or domain. This can be imparted by training. Skill is the ability to use this knowledge in getting the expected outcome or result. Attitude is the orientation of the mind towards a person, place or event. Hence knowledge (read various certificates) will act only to either select or eliminate a candidate during the recruitment. During the interview process the candidate is tested about his/her depth of the subject matter and skills. Psychometric tests can aid in accessing the attitude of the candidate.

Of the skills required apart from the domain expertise, I think communication skills (both written and verbal) is of utmost importance. Of the attitude, being positive in approach, being able to work in a team, being just and fair, etc., are top of my mind and list.

In todays economies illiterate will be defined as a person who cannot un-learn and re-learn new skills. 

Once hired, being able to continuously able to learn and acquire new skills/knowledge becomes a very important trait to be employed. Being adaptable and taking new responsibilities will be appreciated in organizations. Showing leadership qualities along with being a good team player ensures not only employ-ability but career growth. Innovative employees would be an asset to any organization. Along with all these, knowledge about the global economies and cultures will enable employees to remain employable and grow.

To conclude this first part: Employ-ability starts early.

Let me discuss in my next part about the employ-ability factors in lieu with industries.