EMPLOYABILITY OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS

INTRODUCTION EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION INDUSTRIAL STATUS POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

EMPLOYABILITY OF ENGINEERING STUDENTS 1.INTRODUCTION National survey report made by NASSCOM(National Association of Software and Services Companies) in India which is based on the data collected from 5 I! companies tells that about only " percenta#e of students passin# out from the en#ineerin# colle#es are employable$ remainin# students are not employable or underemployed or re%uired trainin# from Industry to ma&e them employable' !he students lac& in comprehension s&ills$ basic math(s&ills and soft s&ills' )or sure a student$ who is studyin# en#ineerin# who hasn*t understood the fact about their s&ills$ will almost view this report as e+a##erated one' In hi#hly competitive mar&et$ where human wor&force is the most important capital (at(least in I! industry) the most companies spend considerably lar#e amount of money(,- billion a year) to train freshers in order to ma&e them eli#ible for their wor&' !his is a ma.or issue that to be solved for the favor of students$ industries and country*s #rowth' If you are wonderin# why students from professional course such as /n#ineerin# are not eli#ible to be employed0 !he answers have roots on increase in no of en#ineerin# colle#es$ sub(standard educational %uality and non(passionate students etc' 2.Employabili y S!ill" /mployers re%uire two types of s&ills from the .ob see&ers$ they are soft s&ills and !ech s&ills(sometimes referred to as hard s&ills)' !he person with the soft s&ills can be tau#ht easily$ the technolo#y related s&ills' 1ut it is not that much easy to teach person with #ood hard s&ills to learn soft s&ills' !he soft s&ills include #ood communication s&ills(especially in /n#lish lan#ua#e)$ comprehension s&ills$ basic computer usa#e$ Inter(personnel communication$ problem solvin# s&ills and #ood leadership %ualities' !he most of students lac& in soft s&ills because they have never #iven a complete education $ (A complete education is the one which educates the students to solve both problems involvin# mathematical e%uations and problems they face in real life where any math e%uation will not help them) and only tau#ht to run behind the ways that #ives #ood mar&s$ mostly the way does rarely answer these %uestions 23hy should I learn it04$ 25ow it wor&s02$ 23hat is the application of it04$ etc' I firmly believe these %uestions are not as&ed by the students$ even if they as&ed there aren*t #ood answers' !he most of the en#ineerin# students are from middle class or poor bac&#round$ So these students were to tau#ht /n#lish as one of sub.ects$ as the curriculum insist them to do it so and not as a forei#n lan#ua#e' So$they mostly do not have proficiency in s&ills such as listenin# $ readin# and writin# in /n#lish' I suspect there will be few students in a class room who do have #ood comprehension s&ills even in their mother ton#ue when it comes to comprehendin# technical

information$ a#ain I have to accuse our education system for the same' I have met students who have #ot cent mar&s in mathematical paper$ but if they were as&ed to solve a verbose %uestion whose solution involves un&nown variables$they aren*t able to model the al#ebraic e%uations that are re%uired to solve it' 1ut they are well versed in solvin# the al#ebraic mathematics involvin# multiple un&nown variables' !he problem these students face is attributed to poor comprehension and e+am oriented education' /ven this is a issue that most /n#ineerin# students face$ when they out of colle#es''' Inter(personnel communication plays a ma.or role in official relations with clients and collea#ue' 1ecause this s&ill alon# with the leadership %ualities ma&e you successfully wor& with your team which comprises people from opposite #ender and different cultural bac&#round' 6o not come to the conclusion that$ the /mployability re%uires only soft s&ills or the students have better hard s&ills related their field' I have written lot about soft s&ills$ since few years earlier it is the only re%uirement in the I! industry because they re%uired mass wor& force' Now the tables turned$ So it ma&es sense to discuss it separately with some bac&#round &nowled#e' #. S a $" O% E&'i&(()i&' E*$+a io& ,/n#ineers are the people who devise somethin# new4 this would be a one of the possible answers if one were as& to 2define /n#ineer4 in a class room' 7es' It is a classic answer' 1ut years have rolled $ /n#ineers basically act as one or all of the followin# in their career as labourer $ desi#ner and scientist' !o clarify these three different wor& nature consider the construction of a buildin# the people who actually do the physically visible wor& are called labourers who acts accordin# to the desi#n8 the person who desi#ned the construction is called desi#ner which is based on some formulae which determine stability of a buildin# and the person who created the those formulae are called scientist' /n#ineer is a person who do all of these wor& in his life in various occasions' )or any education to be successful one three pillars are re%uired$ they are teachers $ students and educational institution(which includes the education system$ economical support and #ood social environment ) ' !he en#ineerin# course in India is one of the preferred choices for students who have scored hi#h at the - 9" level' !his mentality of students created lar#e number of /n#ineerin# colle#es ' :uality of en#ineerin# education in most of en#ineerin# colle#es that are emer#ed in recent years in india is poor' 1ecause those colle#es employed the less &nowled#ed faculty with little e+perience or no e+perience$ private institutions mostly run to ma&e money as their only aim and the cut(off mar&s for the /n#ineerin# courses are reduced in few southern states in favour of private

institutions' !he no of students inta&e over the years -;<= > " fi#ure below = which has a steep curve is shown in

)i# (a)? rise no of students inta&e over the years -;<=(" rise no of en#ineerin# colle#es'

=$which directly indicates the

2!hou#h there is a mechanism for accreditation (National 1oard of Accreditation) and an umbrella a#ency$ the All India Council of !echnical /ducation (AIC!/) set up to monitor and control en#ineerin# education$ the %uality of en#ineerin# education in many institutions is a suspect4 it is copied from report that is created to improve the 5i#her /ducation in /n#ineerin# to the @overnment of India' Number of the institutions or faculty members who involves research and development in India is diminishin# in number when compared to number of inta&e of students who pursue the under#raduate en#ineerin# education' !he students mostly with hi#h academic scores$ prefers to be employed in MNCs whom provides them hi#h salary pac&a#es' So only 5 A of the M' !ech seats available in the /n#ineerin# institutions is filled' 1ut this ma&es the ne+t #eneration students life worser' 6o you wonderin# why0 !he answer is that in common cases the students who decide to continue the masters de#ree is the one who doesn*t #et a .ob (there may be e+ceptions)' Beople who finished master de#ree are mostly to be employed in CD6 win# of the industries$but which re%uires hi#hly s&illed person' If a person who too& masters de#ree

without no other hope$ mi#ht not be able to #et into CD6 or possibly not able to continue in research and development industry' !heir ne+t path is select the teachin# line$ as a lecturer in a en#ineerin# institute' :uality of /n#ineerin# /ducation provided by those people would be doubtable$ it would be somethin# li&e description provided by three blinds to describe elephant in the classic story told to the children' /n#ineerin# as a professional course it should be biased towards &nowled#e that is build throu#h practical hands on e+perience' Our education system nearly cuts down the new innovations to come out' Our education methods ineffectiveness can be understood$ by this event that happened in my school life' I thin& were in = or Eth standard $ which is a #overnment school$ I had classmates who are dull at studies' One time my mathFs teacher as&ed one of my classmates$ when she were at middle of teachin# 5ow to find s%uare root of lar#e inte#er0 $ 2what will be result if G is subtracted from from ;04' My classmate who is dull at studies hasn*t answered it ' My teacher as&ed her 2If you had ; chocolates and you #ave three to your friend $how many will remain 4 '5e answered bravely 2H chocolates 4' !his could provide a conclusion that she could apply subtraction but doesn*t &now subtraction' !here may be some other inferences also''' !he our education methods blurred the fact that what we learn some abstractions of common truths in our boo&s and as&ed us to believe what is on te+tboo&s are nothin# applicable other than for e+ams$' 1ut in case of en#ineerin# colle#e students$ they are not dull at studies (but rapid #rowth of colle#es only in numbers and not in %uality may ma&e this assumption a false one) because they mi#ht have well scored in their hi#her secondary education to #et a seat in the en#ineerin# colle#e' 1ut students may e+cel in the e+ams of calculus but they don*t &now where to apply it' !his case #oes common with every en#ineerin# branch student in their sub.ects$ they &now the sub.ect$ but don*t &now where to apply it' !here is a new emer#in# industry called finishin# schools for /n#ineerin# students' Its somethin# weird that whatever you learned(not sure about this) in a four years course is a waste$ 7ou are #oin# to learn somethin# for .ob from finishin# schools in few months' #. I&*$" )ial S a $" In a normal classroom of en#ineerin# colle#e$ if you as& what is after finishin# en#ineerin# de#ree few may come with hi#her education and few others #ettin# .ob throu#h the campus interview' !hey don*t &now anythin# other opportunities than these' 3hat is the others processes of recruitment from industries 0 6o they post advertisement for en#ineerin# .obs in Newspapers0 3hat &ind of profile they e+pect from a candidate0 3hat are the possible .obs is he eli#ible for0 Most of these answers are unanswered by students' !heir eyes are blurred with campus interviews' As a case study we will concern with I! industry and its employability related to that field' !he followin# the fi#ure depicts how much percenta#e of students are employable for various fields in the I! field

!he I! products sector were with lowest percenta#e which only recruit people with sound &nowled#e in the Computer Science(or Information technolo#y) in their industry where en#ineers re%uired to do innovation' 1ut I! services re%uires .ust sound &nowled#e in pro#rammin# is enou#h to be selected alon# with soft s&ills' !he no of /n#ineerin# colle#es in a state in India directly affect the %uality of the education which can be understood and interpreted from the followin# #raph' It is calculated that these two variables has a correlation about 'E; '

Our technolo#ies that we use in our colle#es sometimes " or "5 years older from the technolo#ies used in the industries so we are unable to fullfil the industries needs' 5ere are the some of the critics about the %uality of en#ineers from few Industrial people II have interviewed over "$ candidates in the last three years and most of them stru##le to communicate even in their mother ton#ue' I have realised that it*s not about the lan#ua#e' If they don*t &now the answer$ how will they respond0 I %uips 1ansal' Shan&ar Srinivasan$ Chief Beople Officer$ Co#niJant !echnolo#y Services

I!he four years of education will ta&e them nowhere if they are not able to apply them in real life4 (5imanshu A#arwal$ C/O$ Aspirin# Minds I@one are the days when companies spent precious time and money trainin# employees for basic .ob s&ills' !oday$ I! careers demand more than codin# and pro#rammin# s&ills' Not .ust MNCs$ even small enterprises are loo&in# for candidates with multi(specialty s&ills'I ( Anshul Mu&her.ee$ a senior consultant from Manpower Cecruitment' 3hen I searched Newspapers for advertisement for about recruitment of en#ineers in Newspapers related to employment' !here haven*t found any advertisement' I found somethin# else which is interestin# it is advertisement from one of bi# Networ&in# Company statin# that they are not recruitin# any candidates from any other way other than officially ' 1ecause there are fraud companies that they #et money from students by assurin# them they fill find them a .ob' I thin& those who invented new method of fraud(in# should be a person who has #ood innovation to become a /n#ineer' KLust for .o&e'

!here is another issues en#ineerin# .ob see&ers find when they are #oin# to the interviews$ they are not selected because they were considered as over%ualified and preference is #iven to diploma holders and I!I holders' 1' !ech de#ree holders all over India employed for < (H5 INC$ this the most payment most en#ineers #et when they are first time #et .ob' <' Po""ibl( Sol$ io&" /ven with inade%uate instruments it is possible to achieve thin#s' So please do not accuse others for not #ettin# .ob$ you are responsible whatever your happens in your life' 2It was poverty and the poor laboratories that #ave me the determination to do the very best I could4( Sir C'M Caman )irst possible way to improve students s&ills is to improve their comprehendin#

s&ill$ reassess the thin#s they already &now and improve their soft s&ills' /n#ineerin# students should try to do as many mini pro.ects as possible$ but it*s nescessary not$ all the pro.ects to be successful one' 1ut they have to try to do it$ !he e+perience should improve their problem solvin# s&ills' Students pursuin# post(#raduates should be provided with scholarship to increase the number of researchers who born in India to research in India' Indian institutes should #ive more payment to staff at least e%ual to the counterparts in western countries' So that best en#ineers will not move towards MNCs' Internet and media streamin# technolo#ies allows best industrials$ researchers and developers to train students in every colle#es' /+am evaluation system should be modified so that it assess students intelli#ence$ innovation and creativity' If a such a chan#e happens in India $ India*s #rowth would be somethin# that cannot be out beaten by any other countries' Sometimes as&in# students to 2reinvent the wheel4 even would ma&e a better 2wheel4' medicine students should have internship in hospitals for one semester to complete their education$ such a system in /n#ineerin# would fill the #ap between Industrial and educational institutes' Ceduce the number of en#ineerin# colle#es they do share common departments$ instead create or convert colle#es which provides specialised en#ineerin# courses' @raduates who are not selected from the campus interview not e+plorin# opportunities provided by thousands of small I! companies and en#ineerin# service providers' If they ac%uire the &nowled#e that is e+pected by such companies they will become employable'

REFERENCES 1. !hou#ht Brovo&in# :uotes of Sir C'M' Caman' Cetrieved on Au#ust -$ " -G from http?NNcreative'sule&ha'comNthou#ht(provo&in#(%uotes(of(sir(c(v(raman(on( the(eve(of(independence(dayO"HG-"HOblo# 2' Aspirin# Minds National /mployability Ceport /n#ineerin# @raduates$ " -- > Aspirin# Minds ' Cetrieved on Au#ust -$ " -G from http?NNwww'aspirin#minds'inNdocsNnationalOemployabilityOreportOen#ineersO" --' pdf #. 3hy there so many en#ineers in india (hardri& ruparal' Cetrieved on Luly "E " -G from http?NNthene+tweb'comNinN" --N 5N ENwhy(there(so(many(en#ineers( in(india <' /n#ineerin# /ducation in India ( Can#an 1aner.ee $Minaya& B (" --)' Muley ' Cetrieved on Luly "E$ " -G from http?NNwww'me'iitb'ac'inNPran#anNresearchOpro.ectsN/n/du'pdf 5' /mployability #ap in indian I! industry ' Cetrieved on Au#ust "$ " -G from http?NNwww'itpathshala'comNresearch(articlesNemployability(#ap(in(indian(it( industry'php H' Cecruitment rac&et fraud companies > 1usiness today' Cetrieved Au#ust G$ " -G from http?NNbusinesstoday'intoday'inNstoryNrecruitment(rac&et(fraud(it( companiesN-N-E= --'html