The employability of fresh graduate, especially in the product engineering industry, has been a great concern for people from the industry as well as education sector. While, many from the industry believe that the availability of employable students from the institutes has been decreasing with each passing year, Anand Parameswaran, Senior VP, Human Resources & Talent Deployment at Cyient, a company that focused on engineering, networks and operations, shares his views about the quality of fresh graduates and scope for them in his industry.
Quality of fresh graduates in the industry
While there has been a temporary inconsistency in the quality of graduates, especially in their soft skills, continuous improvements have also been shown over the last few years. People complain about how, the quality of people reduce with every passing year. However, the number of graduates that our country produces now is, much more higher than what it used to 10 or 20 years back. This only shows that the scale of growth will keep getting longer and better in the next few years.
The two critical gaps currently in fresh graduates, is the ability to apply the theoretical concepts in real world situations and soft skills. It is encouraging to see that initiatives are being taken up by the universities, organizations and industry bodies to improve the employability of graduates. Academia and industry are now coming together to address these gaps and it is heartening to see the progress being made. From a longer-term perspective, there are fundamental changes that can be seen happening, in the school education with more focus being placed on application of knowledge and well-rounded development. If these changes are made, the graduates of tomorrow are going to bring in exceptional competencies and will make life difficult for the incumbents.
Scope for Fresh graduates in the Product Engineering Industry
Demand for products and services have moved eastward, global companies have started to make India their global hub for Product Engineering. From automotive to aerospace to telecommunications to medical devices, more and more products are being engineered in India for global consumption. For the past several years, IT industry was seen as the only place to be for all engineering graduates regardless of their discipline. That is changing rapidly and there are exciting opportunities for fresh graduates to pursue their dream career in the discipline they have specialized. In the next few years, the demand for people in disciplines like aerospace, automotive, mechanical, electronics, instrumentation, VLSI and other non-IT disciplines will go up even more considerably.
From a skills perspective, the two primary things that we look for are a sound understanding of fundamentals and ability to learn. Beyond these skills, hiring people who demonstrate strong value system and good attitude is also a focus. Academic achievements are very important but the willingness to work hard and having the confidence to admit and learn from mistakes are some of the attributes that makes a person successful over the long-term.
Advice to the Freshers
The first thing fresh graduates should always keep in mind, is to be confident. Regardless of whether they are placed via in-campus interviews or off campus placements, the future is always bright for young people who are willing to work hard, learn continuously and be patient. There is no better place than India right now for young talents. Second, is to be responsible and manage their respective careers carefully. Deciding on what to do early in ones career is important and helps in keeping one�s ducks in a row. No one is as interested in your success as much as you are.
.png){kind=logo}