What Should Educational Institutions Do to Ensure They Churn Out More Employable Students?

Recent surveys have found that a high percentage of graduates have the right skillsets that are needed to get on to a job in their career, with most of them lacking even the basic communication skills. There could be many reasons attributed to this, a few of them being – absence of innovation, outdated syllabus and most importantly low level of engagement amidst students and the professors alike. To combat this, educational institutions should implement programs for skill training and refinement to help students gain employment.

NASSCOMM Perspective 2020 says, “The four major challenges which exist today include employability, infrastructure, favorable policies and competition from other low-cost countries. Low employability of existing talent with only 10-15% employable graduates in business services and 26% of employable engineers in technology services continues to be a major bottleneck.”

Industrial workshops and Seminars: Importance of guest lecturers from industry

The syllabus is more confined to the text books, with students having only little or no exposure to the happenings in the corporate world. Having industry speakers interact with the students occasionally, will help students understand a perspective as far as choosing a career is concerned. Bringing in speakers with proven expertise in varied topics, provides added credibility to the institution and also exposes students to thought leaders. Hearing new voices provides students not only different points-of-view, but also potential resources they can apply in later courses.

Study tours

Study tours are visits to a country or area where lectures and classes are held on the topic of significance. These provide students with first-hand information on how industries work and can also be a well-deserved change from the monotony of a classroom. Study tours could prove beneficial for both students and professors alike.

Brainstorming sessions help evolve the ideation capacity of the students

Having intellectual debates and ideation sessions provide students with various points of view about a certain topic. This helps them get experience in having spirited debates on the topics of concern and could even aid them in thinking critically and creatively.

Handling live projects/events in campus

Handling events equips students with a host of skills needed to function in a professional environment. It gives students hands-on experience in team work and helps them understand how co-workers function, giving them the opportunity to do some sort of crisis management should such a situation arise.

Prolonged Internship Duration

A lot of courses have a compulsory internship policy and the minimum duration is one month. A few companies, during the hiring process, don’t recognize these internships as one month is too short a duration to get significant industry experience. At the end of the course, a candidate with one month of work experience is on the same level as one with no experience. A longer internship will not only give the student an insight into the industry, it will also help them establish themselves as credible candidates.

Alumni speeches

Having notable alumni give a guest lecture is an exciting experience for students. The credibility of the institution and what it offers is cemented when successful alumni come and talk about their success. Students will also find alumni speeches more relatable as the speakers were once in the seats of the students.