90% Indian students are not work ready: Study

Ninety percent college students in India are not prepared to take up jobs, finds a research conducted by a graduate from Harvard Business School, in her independent research on employability crisis in India. The research that began in 2013 with only some of the top colleges in the country, has found that 80% college students want to intern, but have no way to explore the opportunities.

Talerang, coined from 'talent' and 'boomerang', began as a research project by Shveta Raina at the Harvard Business School in 2013. She says, "Many companies have been raising concerns about how theoretical knowledge is not translating to real-time work at jobs. There was a time when companies would invest in training, but now they want job-ready students. This was the main reason that we initiated the research to understand concerns and demands and bridge the gap.

Interestingly, as part of the second phase of the project, Raina was in Ahmedabad and visiting several colleges and institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gujarat National Law University, etc, to interact with the students and understand their concerns.

Speaking about the scenario in Gujarat, she lauded the fact that the colleges she visited had dedicated faculty to look after placements and has great infrastructure. However, she felt the need for engineering colleges to make internships a must.

"Internships play a crucial role in making students job ready. While our study found that less than 5 per cent students want to intern in the first year of their college, it is not right on the college's part to push fort the same. Internships should be taken up towards the middle or end of a course. Government engineering colleges in Gujarat should make internships with stipend compulsory, similar to what Maharashtra government has done."

She further found that language was a big concern among students in Gujarat, coupled with family and academic pressure. She said, "While interacting with students, I found that since most of them have their family business as a back up, they seem confused about choosing what they want to do and what their parents want them to do."

Interestingly, the study also found that about 50 per cent students did not have anyone to guide them or mentor them to the right career path, hence reflecting on a need for intervention.

Talerang conducts specialised training for college students to prepare them for jobs and have a tie-up with 250 corporates across the globe for placements. The programme is also conducted online.

Raina added, "We accept students on merit basis. Those who cannot afford our fees are provided a scholarship."

WHERE DO COLLEGES LACK IN READYING STUDENTS:

• Self-leadership
• Life vision
• Communication skills
• Ability to work fast
• First impression
• Bridge to right career

HARVARD RESEARCH IN 2013:

• 58% students don't feel ready for front office job
• 46% students don't feel ready for back-office job
• 92% students never attended any leadership training