|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
The Great Indian Job Bazaar will face several challenges in the New Year, both on the supply side and the demand side, says career expert Pervin Malhotra Strengthening academia-industry linkage
The entire cost and effort involved in reschooling and retraining fresh graduates as per the needs of various job sectors can be cut down if industry becomes a partner in education. It is only through such a linkage that the present chasm between employment opportunities and employability of the youth who pass out from our educational institutions can be narrowed down. Changing mindset The youth will need to shed traditional mindsets and look beyond boundaries at the newer opportunities being thrown up by a globalising world. In an economy where several sunrise sectors are emerging, the youth mustn’t pin all their hopes and aspirations on traditional job markets. For, in this fast-changing scenario, the notion of the ‘dream job’ is undergoing a major redefinition. No longer are engineering, the IAS or medicine the ‘ultimate jobs.’ The challenge before the youth thus is to introspect about their own aspirations and then match their areas of interest to the new fields and opportunities that are constantly being thrown up.
From the point of view of recruitment, soft skills and interpersonal communication are going to be of paramount importance in job-hunting. Degrees and diplomas do count, but ultimately, the youth will need to improve their soft skills to gain an advantage in the job market. For instance, an M.Sc degree does not suffice in getting selected as a medical representative. It is good communication skills that will give a person a headstart. Thus graduates or plus two passouts need to focus on sharpening their functional English, especially if they’re looking at a future in the services sector. In the manufacturing sector, technical skills may still count more, but in the burgeoning services industry, comprising sectors like ITeS, tourism, retail, etc, it is the soft skills that will provide the winning edge to the youth.
The growing levels of attrition will continue to pose a huge challenge to employers in the year to come too. To tackle this, the HR people will have to devise better and newer ways to factor the aspirations of their human assets into the corporate plans. For, the thrust will now increasingly be on how a company fits into the career goals of its manpower and not just vice-versa. It will not just be the monetary benefits that will be crucial to retaining staff, but factors that enhance the employees’ self-worth or job satisfaction, be it an impressive job title, chances of career growth, skill advancement and the like. In this fluid scenario, career mapping for retaining talent will be a thrust area.
With so many new choices before the youth, there is bound to be a lot of confusion too. In order that the youth take a pick of the right field it is important for them to undertake self-assessment or aptitude tests at an early stage, preferably after Class X, by which time their career interests have matured. Systematic self-evaluation is a must since a career choice is not a matter of trial and error. Herein lies a huge challenge for parents as well as the youth. The parents mustn’t push their children into fields that they think are ‘good’ for them, but should instead facilitate self-evaluation at the right time to help the children discover what is ‘suitable’ for them. Another challenge stemming from this is not to be taken in by what are the ‘hot jobs’ today. For, what is hot today could be ‘lukewarm’ by the time the child is ready to join the job market. The services sector will be the frontrunner in generating jobs in the New Year. The areas to watch out for are:
Within the IT/ITeS segment, while BPO will continue to maintain its lead, it is the outsourcing processes that require more specialised expertise, like KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) and LPO (legal process outsourcing), that will get the real push. From pre-publishing functions like editing, excerpting to page-setting, to financial counseling, KPO will permeate the job scene in a big way.
This sector will generate a lot of jobs at the bottom of the pyramid, with openings for customer care executives, floor managers, logistics personnel, visual merchandisers, to name a few.
The banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector will continue its expansion with the entry of new players. From mutual fund advisers, to stock market experts to actuaries, finance professionals will see a spurt in demand.
From bioinformatics, pharma, clinical research to hospital administration, this sector will generate tremendous opportunities. Apart from medical practitioners, paramedical and nursing staff will continue to be in great demand, with more and more multi-specialty hospitals coming up.
From the upcoming Commonwealth Games to the spurt in various kinds of tourism, be it medical, dental or general tourism, a lot of factors will drive the growth of this sector. There will be room for plenty of jobs in hospitality, especially at the entry level.
Riding the retail and construction boom, infrastructure will get a major push, with a quantum jump expected in jobs for civil engineers, architects, landscapists and the like.
— Pervin Malhotra
|
This is a very significant partnership that needs to be forged and strengthened in the year to come if the gap between degrees and employability is to be plugged. The involvement of India Inc in the education process is mandatory to churn out manpower that is tailor-made to meet the needs of industry.
Advantage soft skills
Mapping careers to check attrition
Reality check of aspirations
KPO and LPO
Retail
BFSI
Healthcare
Tourism
Infrastructure
Here are a few examples of some of the more creative job titles we found.
