"Graduates have the required skills on paper, but they lack vocational skills, life skills and social etiquette."
"No matter what profession you choose, it is very important that you understand the market and its requirements well."
"Lack of planning inevitably leads to failure, sooner or later."
Utkarsh Joshi, principal, The HR Fund, talks about the root cause of unemployability and offers suggestions on how we can create new avenues for entrepreneurs.
Why are young graduates unable to find the right job?
What is the Indian start-up ecosystem like?
What are the qualities that define a successful entrepreneur from an average one?
To know more about all such questions, we caught up with Utkarsh Joshi (inset below), principal, The HR Fund, a human resources investment company based in Gurgaon, Haryana.
Why do you think Indian graduates are not able to find appropriate jobs after college?
While talking about the employability scene, what most of us forget to note is that the ecosystem is changing -- some of the job roles that exist today weren't heard of until a few years ago.
In the job market, trends are changing by the hour and the present day curriculum is not equipped to accommodate the demands of the industry.
When I was pursuing my engineering, our curriculum focussed on equipping us with theoretical knowledge, which will only get you so far.
Fortunately, for me, I learned to code and write programmes while I was still in college.
Today, when you step out to find a job, organisations want to know whether you're able to apply that kind of knowledge at work, how much work experience or internship experience you have, your ability to contribute to the growth of the organisation etc.
While graduates have the required skills on paper, they lack vocational skills, life skills and social etiquette.
Those who have the skills and passion get the job; some others are trained on the job while those who do not have the desired application skills get left behind.
What according to you are the skills that will help get a job?
As I said earlier, employers are looking for application-based skills.
These skills vary from sector to sector, organisation to organisation.
For example, if you want to be a JAVA programmer, it is not important that you scored 92 marks in JAVA.
The employer would like to know how many programmes you have built, how interactive they are, and what your success rate is.
No matter what profession you choose, it is very important that you understand the market and its requirements well.
What are the sectors that will create jobs in the next few years?
It has been accepted globally that India is the back office of the world.
We are doing well in IT and ITes and will continue to do so for many more decades.
You will see more e-commerce based start-ups emerging and creating jobs for technology professionals.
If we invest the right talent and resources, manufacturing will also come up in a big way, particularly the automobile industry.
The Modi government is also pro-manufacturing, so there will be demand for automobile engineers, technicians and professionals.
Aviation will also open up new avenues for youngsters -- both in India and abroad.
Logistics -- one of the most ignored and less talked about sector -- will see a huge demand for professionals who are good at management and service orientation.
According to you, what are the start-ups that look promising?
HR start-ups: There is going to be a huge demand for start-ups involved in hiring, employment training and development in India.
m-commerce: Mobile-application based start-ups like Paytm will do well because mobile penetration is very high in India.
The latest to join this bandwagon is Myntra that recently switched from its online version to become App-Only.
Entrepreneur training and mentorship: With so many entrepreneurs wanting to set up their own business, there will be a demand for mentors and experienced professionals, who can guide and train young entrepreneurs on how to get started, how to find investors, how to scale etc.
Aggregators: The future is going to be aggregator-based models. Reason being, consumers like to compare and review the options available to them before making a choice.
Aggregator models will be welcome because it helps unorganised sectors become more organised and accessible.
What are the qualities that define a successful entrepreneur from an average one?
Persistence
Be it Facebook or Flipkart, the best of companies that are doing well today have experienced failures at some point in their journey.
There will be ups and downs, but the idea that you are building something of your own should inspire you to rise above the challenges.
Stake holder management
As an entrepreneur, you must know how to prioritise and manage your stakeholders -- investors, clients and employers.
You need to know their expectations and take the right decisions for each of them.
Running a business
You must understand the nuts and bolts of running a business.
From setting up a team to knowing everything about your product, investors and competition, an entrepreneur is expected to be well informed and updated about the business s/he is dealing with.
What are the mistakes first time entrepreneurs make and how to avoid them?
Lack of planning
About 50 per cent entrepreneurs start their businesses without having a proper plan.
While I do agree that one must not waste a lot of time in just making business plans, I feel, it is important to have a vision statement.
Do your market research and product testing before launching your product. Lack of planning inevitably leads to failure, sooner or later.
Sluggish response
For any business to survive, one has to be alert and respond to customers' needs.
If you take too long to respond, you will lose both your customer and value.
Lack of team spirit
A lot of entrepreneurs are rebels and often say, 'I will do it myself'.
Even if they have a team, they feel that no one can do the job better than them.
This lack of trust can be bad for the start-up. It is important to build trust in your colleagues.
Lead image used for representational purposes only.
Photograph: Reuters
