Overview

Employability or ‘soft skills’ are the building blocks of a career

Students enter college with the expectation that they will acquire the knowledge, skills and abilities to enter in the market. Graduates expect that they have acquired the skills necessary to perform their jobs and to advance their careers. On the other hand, employers have an expectation that a college education will provide graduates with the employability skills required to perform their jobs in the new environments. It is therefore college’s responsibility to identify and implement the appropriate soft skills training approach to help students with this transition. Employability skills, therefore, are not just about getting a job; it is about a broader set of skills and attributes that will enable a student to be successful.

Recruitment, selection, training and placement are time, energy and cost consuming processes and in today competitive environments corporate expectations from educational institutions have expanded. While conducting a campus, corporate is looking not just good subject knowledge and technical skills but also some soft skills and personality traits in the candidate that makes him/her stays longer, work dedicatedly and perform for the growth of the organization.

Traditionally there has been no clear communication of corporate expectation with the colleges and more emphasis has been on technical knowledge and trade related skills. Considering today’s highly competitive business environments and high employee turnover ratio, the importance of employability skills has clearly been felt and companies are looking forward to hire candidates not only good in grades and trade but also good in skills and attributes that gives stability and growth to the organization.