Employability & Being Employable

Students passing out of colleges and universities this year should not be haunted by the spectre of wage cuts and job losses, instead focus more on developing skills as a value addition to their degrees to get placements, top executives of leading companies said."We are looking for fresh candidates who have good talents on soft skills, quick learning abilities, communication skills apart from their good track record," Infosys CEO and Managing Director Kris Gopalakrishnan said."Though we have not changed the pattern due to the economic downturn, once a candidate has been recruited by us, we are also giving them adequate training," he said.Infosys has already announced that it is not going back on its new recruitment and would absorb all 18,000 new graduates who have been enrolled last year. But the company plans to increase the duration of training programme for its candidates from the present 3.5 months to 4.5 months."We would be adding 18,000 employees and have also increased duration of training programme for the candidates from the existing 3.5 months to 4.5 months," Gopalakrishnan, who was in the city recently, said."Top companies are basically looking for young graduates to be 'humble in attitude, hungry to learn more and smart in their approach," Polaris Executive Vice President and Global Head Somas Jeevan said.The company focuses on the principle of 'hire for attitude' and 'train for skills' while recruiting, he added."We basically look for three key elements in a new hire -- humbleness in attitude, hungry to learn more and smart in their approach. Our talent discovery is designed to discover leaders who can bring a learning attitude to work."We provide opportunities which can trigger learning for professional growth," he said.Cognizant Human Resources AVP Sriram Rajagopal said, "A freshly passed out candidate may be 'skilled' but what is equally important is to be employable.""A candidate can be employable only when there is focused attention on behavioural skills, communication and presentation skills," he said.He also that apart from the above mentioned skills, team dynamics, business etiquette, cross-cultural adaptability were also necessary. Continuous learning, flexibility and a can-do attitude are clear plus points in today's environment.In the fourth quarter of 2008 (October to December 2008), Cognizant added a net of 2,200 professionals, he added.Expressing concern that only 50 per cent of engineering graduates get placed, Expertus Managing Director Srini Krishnamurti said, "Graduates need to realise that graduating from a college does not necessarily assure them of a job, hence in today's competitive environment they should actively participate or seek out ways of developing their employability skills."Students have to be much more well-rounded (both academically and from an employability perspective) to stand out, he added.Stressing that communication skill plays a vital role in an employee, Ford India President and Managing Director Michael Boneham said, "Even though we are an engineering company, we look for communication skills from our employees