Terms of Job Placement - Term Paper Example

Enhancing Employability Universities have observed strong need to develop essential skills among its students to make them good professionals. These skills not only be helpful for students in getting job soon after their graduation but also helps to increase universities ratings when it compared with other universities in terms of job placement of its students. Companies require graduates who are in addition to have technical skills should be highly adaptable to different types of situations, having ability to communicate effectively with their peers and subordinates, capable of handling and evaluating information to make it useful for the company, developing strategies at different levels, awareness about competitors and customers trends, knowledgeable about his responsibilities and most importantly have strong communication skills which are also known as soft skills among many professionals. It has also been observed that universities succeeded in developing all other necessary skills among its graduates but developing soft skills is dependent on individuals own effort as it is difficult to teach these skills at graduate level. In addition to the above mentioned skills there are many other which every employer wants to have in its employees. These skills will also be discussed in this report. On the other hand fresh graduates also want to attain good positions in reputable organizations in order to build professional careers. This report will explain how universities devise their curriculum which helps to integrate both technical and other employability skills among its graduates. And the criteria through which universities determine if they have succeeded in developing the essential skills. INTRODUCTION: Employability is defined as a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations, which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy. (Knight,Yorke) With the increase in economic recession it has become more difficult for people to get job of their own choice. This problem is more serious among fresh graduates who do not have professional experience and need a step to start their journey of life. Unemployment is not the problem of poor countries this problem has been prevailing throughout the world, only difference is in the number of unemployed people. The rate of unemployment can be seen in table 1 in annexure. Struggle to get good job has increased as there are fewer employers and more employees who are willing to work. Therefore it has become challenge for not only students but also universities to provide the best environment and help its students to learn maximum skills that are required by most of the companies. Making graduates to learn skills is not only the responsibility of university but also of the students ,therefore students should also be aware of the fact which skills in addition to technical are required which they should know. Secondly relying on universities for learning skills and gaining knowledge is not sufficient in this competitive environment they should look for other sources and enroll themselves in role playing activities, small workshops whose focus is to build confidence among students etc. Many students are unaware of the fact that companies requirements are different depending on the type of business they are carrying and the scale on which they are operating. For example a multinational company may have different criteria and set of skills when it comes to hiring graduates as compared to a domestic company. Similarly a professional from a manufacturing company may be looking for different skills and knowledge when recruiting graduates as compared to that belong to Service Company. Therefore identifying necessary skills is not an easy job and for that reason universities have developed certain programs that are included in their curriculum. This report comprise of few skills that are considered to be most important by majority of employers as well as universities. 1) Action Planning (University of Kent Careers Advisory Service) discusses Action planning refers to the ability of an individual to take step in a particular situation. None of the decision is taken in isolation therefore before taking any decision a person needs to look at its surroundings and the consequences associated with the actions he takes. Action planning also gives a person a road map which he can devise to achieve a specific goal. Adaptability: Adaptability refers to person capability to adjust in different job environments. University of Bradford (2012) explains adaptability as synonymous to flexibility meaning to what extent a person is able to perform different tasks and come up with positive and new ideas for the company. Adaptability also refers to an individual attitude towards work if he has positive attitude he will be more willing and flexible towards new and challenging tasks. Good Communication Skills Communication skills are as important as any other skill .A good communication means it should be effective. Ability to effectively communicate with people within the organization as well as people outside organization is what most employers are looking for in the graduates. “People in organisations usually spend 75 percent of their daily time on communication through writing, reading, listening, speaking, inter-debate etc. Effective communication is an essential component for organisation success”( Malhotra2011 ) Communication includes ability of an individual to write, read ,speak, listen and interact with other people. During interview this is the most important and the most obvious skill which comes in to notice by an employer. Therefore it is important for graduates to pay heavy attention to it. Decision making and Evaluating Information: Decision making is considered as an important leadership skill. It is important to know how to evaluate information in order to make timely decisions. At entry level in any organization there are very fewer chances in which individual is asked to make decision ,however this ability is still judged during interviews and case study simulations by providing candidate a situation in which he has to analyze and make decision. Therefore it is necessary for universities to provide students with not only situation based case studies but also take them to real situations in order to enhance the decision making ability of individuals. Information Handling and Interpreting Information: The role of information handling skills is most important for those organizations which are involved in research projects. As it is very important for them to hire candidates who have the ability to handle information coming from different sources and interpret it in an orderly manner. Handling information refers to the fact to identify which information or data is important for the company and which should be discarded .This helps companies to make timely, effective and accurate decisions. Leadership Skills: Leadership skills are important for successful management (Martinez2009) Firms look for the candidates who posess strong leadership skills. “Leadership qualities consist of high qualifications, ability to make sound judgments based on knowledge, information and experience, communication skills, the capacity to multitask and interpersonal skills”. Leadership skills are also considered important in order to be successful in ones career. Ability to lead people is one of the few qualities which is needed both in case if graduate wants to get employed in a firm or wanted to start his own business. Ability to respond towards change and Opportunity Awareness: With the changing business world it is important for an individual to respond actively towards change in order to avoid situation of chaos and uncertainty. Secondly it is important for a person if he is working for a marketing firm or running it to identify opportunities before his competitors. Therefore it is important for universities to train and guide their students on these lines by giving them a situation in which they have to identify maximum opportunities. Students on the other hand should not rely on their universities for these skills but they should also work on their own to develop these skills. Presentation and Speaking: Presentation of ideas and speaking in public are the most important skills that employers look forward to. Presentation of ideas not only includes the selection of words (speaking) but also includes the body language, facial expressions and other gestures. Therefore a student must be a good communicator who can express his ideas effectively. Responsibility: Being a responsible person is not only important from an employer’s perspective but also vital for a person himself. Company’s look for responsible candidates who are committed to work and able to meet deadlines. A responsible candidate will not only be responsible in his personal life but will also show responsibility when it comes to professional life. The above mentioned skills are the skills that are required by employers in their workforce. Employers Reason for Recruiting Graduates: The important skills required by employers are explained briefly in the above section of the report. Now it is also important to know why organizations prefer to have new employees and spend huge amount in the recruitment and training of their employees. There are three main reasons which are explained by AC Nielsen Research (Feb 2000) “Firstly to provide sufficient pool of future, middle and senior manager” “To fill the need of trained and educated people in areas requiring professional or highly skilled personnel” “To introduce new ideas and techniques into workplace.” Technical Skills or Academic Achievements: The importance of technical skills and academic achievements can not be ignored at any stage of employment. These are the achievements which draws line between outstanding and average students without even interviewing them. Therefore it is important for graduates to work on their academic achievements since it is based on purely their own efforts and struggle. University Programs in creating employment skills: Looking at the future and prevailing competition in the economies universities have designed various programs to build necessary skills which are required by employers in university graduates. Almost all universities have devised strategies for their students but only few of them are able to achieve the desired results. The reason of their weak performance cannot be attributed to only one factor there are many factors that are held responsible .These can be in- efficiency of graduates, poor integration of policies with the course work and in ability of the staff to carry out efficient skill development program. Following are the most common graduate employment programs carried by most of the universities. Work Placement ( Internships) Most of the universities have dedicated department for this purpose, which they named centre of industry linkages. Through work placement students are able to gain experience with different organizations and able to understand important skills which employers want in graduates. Case studies and Role playing activities These are the two most important techniques which help graduates to assess their abilities and facilitate them to think out of the box. During case study methods students are asked to find the solution to the problem which enhances their thinking abilities. Moreover students are also asked to give presentations on the solution to the problems. Mentoring Programs: Mentoring program is also a very common practice in universities in which group of students are assigned a mentor who is responsible for them. Mentor guides the students throughout their university time and identifies the strength and weaknesses of each student so that they can work on it. Conducting seminars and other activities: By conducting seminars and workshops about building different employment skills among students is a very effective practice. During these seminars universities invite people from industry who share their knowledge and experience with graduates, which help them in two different ways. Firstly students are able to gain idea about professional world and the trends secondly they will get a chance to meet representative of various companies which will create a liaison between students and professionals of that organization. ANNEXURE Table1 Country Latest 2010 2009 2008 2007 Algeria 10.00 10.00 10.20 11.30 11.80 Angola 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 25.00 Argentina 7.20 7.30 8.40 7.30 7.50 Australia 5.30 4.90 5.50 4.60 4.30 Austria 4.30 4.20 4.70 4.20 4.00 Bangladesh 5.10   5.10     Belgium 6.80 7.60 8.20 7.20 7.20 Bolivia 8.30 8.30 8.50   8.70 Botswana 17.50   17.50   17.50 Brazil 5.20 5.30 6.80 6.80 7.50 Bulgaria 10.20 11.20 7.90 5.00 6.10 Canada 7.50 7.60 8.40 6.80 6.00 Chile 7.20 7.10 8.60 7.50 7.20 China 4.10 4.10 4.30 4.20 4.00 Colombia 9.20 11.10 11.30 10.60 9.90 Czech Republic 8.00 9.60 9.20 6.00 6.00 Denmark 4.20 4.10 4.30 2.20 2.10 Egypt 11.90 8.92 9.40 8.80   Estonia 10.90 13.60 15.70 7.70 4.20 Euro Area 10.30 10.00 9.80 8.20 7.40 Finland 6.20 7.90 8.80 6.90 6.50 France 9.70 9.60 10.00 8.20 7.90 Germany 6.60 7.40 8.10 7.70 8.40 Greece 17.50 14.20 10.30 7.90 8.07 Hong Kong 3.40 4.00 4.90 4.10 3.40 Hungary 10.60 10.80 10.50 8.00 7.70 Iceland 7.10 8.00 8.20 4.80 0.80 India 9.40   9.40   8.00 Indonesia 6.56 7.14 7.87 8.39 9.11 Ireland 14.30 13.60 13.10 8.60 4.80 Israel 5.60 6.60 7.30 6.50 6.69 Italy 8.60 8.30 8.40 6.80 6.70 Japan 4.50 4.90 5.20 4.40 3.80 Kazakhstan 5.30 5.50 6.30 6.60 7.00 Kenya 12.70         Latvia 14.40 17.20 20.10 10.10 5.40 Lithuania 14.80 17.10 15.60 7.90 4.20 Luxembourg 6.10 6.10 5.20 5.30 4.20 Macedonia 31.30 30.90 32.20 33.80 34.90 Malaysia 3.00 3.20 3.40 3.10 3.00 Mexico 5.16 4.94 5.29 4.89 3.83 Mongolia 3.60   3.60 2.80 2.80 Morocco 9.10 9.20 9.00 9.50 9.70 Mozambique 17.00       17.00 Namibia 51.20     51.20   Netherlands 5.80 5.10 5.20 3.60 3.70 New Zealand 6.60 6.80 7.00 4.60 3.50 Nigeria 21.10 21.10 19.70 11.80 5.80 Norway 3.30 2.70 2.60 2.00 1.60 Pakistan 5.95 5.95 5.50 5.20 5.30 Paraguay 7.10 6.10       Peru 7.30 7.70 8.90 8.10 6.90 Philippines 6.40 7.10 7.10 6.80 6.30 Poland 12.10 12.30 11.90 9.50 11.20 Portugal 12.40 11.10 10.10 7.80 7.80 Qatar 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.30 0.50 Romania 7.20 7.30 7.50 5.80 6.10 Russia 6.40 7.20 8.20 7.80 6.10 Rwanda 30.00     30.00   Saudi Arabia 10.50 10.50 10.50 9.80 11.00 Singapore 2.00 2.20 2.30 2.50 1.70 Slovakia 13.40 13.90 13.90 8.70 10.30 Slovenia 11.50 11.80 10.30 7.00 7.30 South Africa 25.00 24.00 24.20 21.90   South Korea 3.10 3.60 3.60 3.40 3.10 Spain 21.52 20.33 18.83 13.91 8.60 Sri Lanka 4.10 4.50 5.40 5.20 5.50 Sweden 6.90 7.40 8.90 6.80 6.00 Switzerland 3.30 3.50 4.20 2.80 2.60 Taiwan 4.30 4.67 5.74 5.03 3.83 Tanzania 10.70       11.70 Thailand 0.70 0.68 0.90 1.40 0.85 Tunisia 13.00 13.00 13.30 12.40 12.40 Turkey 9.20 11.40 13.50 14.00 10.60 Ukraine 8.90 8.80 9.60 6.90 6.90 United Arab Emirates 4.30 4.30 4.20 3.71 3.45 United Kingdom 8.30 8.10 7.90 6.70 5.30 United States 8.50 9.40 10.00 7.40 5.00 Venezuela 8.20 6.50 6.60 6.10 6.20 Vietnam 2.60 2.90 2.90 2.40 2.00 Bibliography: ACNielsen Research Services. 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