Essentials of Employability

Employability is the ability of a person to do Intelligent Self-Assessment with an objective of exploring personal attributes (Skills, Values, Strengths, motivations etc.), explore opportunities in the market, make informed career related decisions, identify and bridge training gaps in terms of qualities required for the desired jobs and current inventory of personal attributes, create a compelling action plan (Create effective CV and Cover letter, Prepare for GD and Personal Interview etc.), gain the first employment, ensure self-development throughout professional career, grow in an organisation and gain subsequent employments

What are Employability Skills?

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Employability skills are a set of personal attributes that make individuals more likely to gain employment and to be successful in their chosen occupations. Following are basic qualities/ skills required to be employable

• Desire to Learn
• Coach ability
• Desire to Contribute
• Ability to Innovate
• Integrity
• Physical Fitness
• Respect for Protocol
• Process Orientation
• Problem Solving
• Analytical Skills
• Interpersonal Skills
• Communication Skills
• Domain Skills
• Planning and Organising Skills

Employability Scenario in India

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Employability is a huge challenge our education system is facing today. According to NSS, only 20% of Engineers, 22% of MBA’s and only 10-15% of college graduates are employable.

Only 2.5% of Indian engineers possess the skills in artificial intelligence (i.e., machine learning and data science) that industry requires. Only 1.5% - 4.5% of engineers possess the necessary skills in data engineering, while only 2.8% - 5.3% are qualified in wireless technologies. These figures pale compared to the percentage of engineers (5.5%) that are qualified for basic programming. However, the true employability figures for data science are actually much lower: only 50% - 60% of these numbers (or 1.5% total) when we factor in other skills such as cognitive and language that are key for career success. Good coding skills (the ability to write functionally correct code) are possessed by 4.6% of Indian job applicants, 2.1% of Chinese candidates and 18.8% of the US candidates in the IT and software industries

Source: National Employability Report, Engineers by Aspiring Minds

 

Employability Essentials

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Following are the key Employability Essentials

Ability to do Accurate Self-Assessment

This is also referred to as ability to reflect. The quality of your reflection depends largely on your Intra-personal Intelligence. Your Reflection skills will help you do the following

Self-Assessment

To explore personal attributes like Skills, Values, Motivations, Strengths, and Areas of Improvement etc. 

Academic Assessment

This is relevant for First Job Seekers. This refers to assessment of Domain Knowledge, Quantitative Aptitude, Reasoning, General Awareness etc. Once you are aware of the gaps, you can create an action plan

Market Assessment

This is relevant for First Job Seekers and experienced professionals. This refers to assessment of Industry, Companies, Departments, Compensation etc.

Ability to take Informed Decisions

Your Assessment of Self and Market will unearth a lot of data for you. This data will provide you with all the necessary base you need to make informed decisions. Your Intuition also plays a major role in your decision making 

Ability to create a SMART Plan of Action

Whether you are a  first job seeker or experienced professional, post decision making, you would like to take the following actions

• Create a convincing CV and cover letter in line with job description
• Post CV on Job sites with a good Cover Note
• Identify consultants who recruit for companies you are interested in. Share your CV with them
• Study job description
• Preparation as per the selection procedure in terms of written test, group discussions, personal interview etc.

Ability to Gain the first Employment

This refers to your ability to get employment in the desired industry, company, department, role and salary

Ability to Perform Well and Grow

This refers to your ability to meet/ exceed your Targets, KPI’s, KRA’s, adhere to systems/ processes, display required skills and successful people management (Peers, Subordinates, Seniors, Stakeholders, Vendors, Clients etc.) It also refers to your ability to get promoted to the next level with more responsibility in terms of Territory, Team size and Revenue

Ability to Ensure self - development

This refers to your ability to

• Acquire skills required for the assigned role
• Acquire knowledge of Company Products, Competition, Systems, Processes and People
• Improvise on areas of improvement

Ability to Gain subsequent employment with other companies in the same industry or a different industry

This refers to your ability to gain employment in another company at the same level or higher level. This means that you are capable of convincing another company about your capabilities and how you can add value to them