A result oriented professional with BBA in HR and Masters in Computer Information Systems, Ayesha is currently pursuing her PhD in Business Administration specialization in Human Resource Leadership. She brings with her over 20 years of experience in managing modern HR Management & Systems and maintaining harmony between industry and workforce. Ayesha has enjoyed working for clients in India, Middle East, and the USA. She is now focused on the modern education sector and is busy connecting students with their dream.
Asia is the fastest growing economic region in the World and countries like India, China, Japan, South Korea, and Indonesia are currently the top five economies in Asia. Education in every sense is one of the fundamental factors of development and large growth sector in the economy.
Education raises people’s productivity and creativity in the market, promotes entrepreneurship, and furthers technological advances. It plays a very crucial role in securing economic and social progress and improving income distribution. For instance, education is distributed into different sectors like Travel and Tourism, Hospitality and Hotel Management, Medicine and Hospitals, Technology, Housing, Engineering & Construction and many more.
Education Forms the Groundwork for Progress
There is a direct correlation between a country’s economy and the proportion of its educated workers. Knowledge distribution should be proportionate so that educated workers, who have ample practical knowledge can efficiently carry out tasks that requires literacy and critical thinking. Therefore, many countries allocate and provide funds for primary and secondary education to improve economic performance and boost the employment sector.
The education sector in India has been in high demand thanks to the country’s colossal population. But India suffers every year since thousands of fresh graduates go without jobs and even if they are offered a job, it is not to the right salary and the position does not match the qualification. No doubt India has it’s far share of global educators and scholars, but an occasional reality check can do all of us some good. India’s standard and quality of education has got a still long way to go, and this could be one major reason why students contemplate finishing their education abroad. Once they finish their education, they are quickly whisked away by the corporate giants. Soon, we find that all our best think tanks are settled abroad.
Indeed, this brain drain issue has been discussed several times before, but what changes have really been implemented?
Reshuffle the Education System to Create Learnt Individuals
The Indian education system does not prepare students for practicality. Even during internships, they are not exposed to the nitty-gritties of a business environment. As someone who have done her education both in India and abroad, I personally know how education and jobs go hand in hand. Exposure is everything, and it all starts right from our school days. Frankly speaking, the time for doing away with the age-old practices has crossed a long time back. A revision of course materials and text books will not cut it anymore.
Technology has been taking the world by storm, and we still have students as young as 6 years old carrying heavy bags to schools. When information and knowledge can be made accessible by just a touch, are these heavy bags necessary? More importantly, has the teaching community kept itself abreast of the dynamic technology domain? Do they know what the employment sector needs today?
To change the outlook of our educational sector, we need the teachers and professors to change first. Think out of the four walls of the classrooms and encourage questions from the students. Imparting information is more important than completing the syllabus.
For those students that decide to complete their education in India, they are faced with the dilemma of choosing a job that does not align with their educational qualifications. An obvious reason for this disparity is that the graduates are not well versed in soft skills, which they can do nothing about unless their mentors and teachers take an active role.
However, fingers also point towards the changing governments that does not do much for sectors apart from medicine and engineering. For instance, Agriculture and Life Science is still neglected, and so students either rush to land any and every job that they can get their hands on after doing courses related to agriculture. They then end up being grumpy individuals who could not fulfil their passion.
Excelling the F2F Interview in 8 Minutes
At the same time for those who can afford to follow their dreams, soft skills become a roadblock. In my role as an HR executive in the industry for over 20 years, I can safely say that no one in my experience have satisfactorily answered the question “Say Something About Yourself” during interviews.
Graduates should learn to sell themselves to the employers in the 8 minutes that they get during the interview. That is where your personality shines. How you create a rapport with them will decide your future, not your CV. In order to do so, prep yourself with the necessary soft skills. Learn what the employer is looking for. Make use of all the social media sites and understand what the company and the company leaders are looking for in a prospective employee.
The Importance of Business Etiquette Training
For effective utilization of human resources, companies need to invest in au fait business etiquette training sessions. Young blood has a lot of new energy that they bring in to the organization, and sometimes this can clash with what the existing employees have. Just as the freshers need to be shaped to suit the company atmosphere, existing employees also need to be reminded about the current atmosphere and refresh on their BET. This also means familiarizing the employees, phase by phase, with the current technology trends.
It is important that the employer invests in training efforts on each one of them to learn new innovative techniques on writing skills, telephonic ethics, business communication, customer relation, body language, and tone and manners. Workshops are a perfect setting for a give and take of information between generations.
One outdated culture that companies follow is asking employees to spend a better part of their life at the office and get disgruntled when the employees decide to change jobs. Work-Life balance is of paramount importance. From my experience I have seen employers filter candidates based on their age, finishing school, their native place, whether they have previously worked with a corporate royalty, their affinity for sports and their hobbies. When in reality, they should focus on their own annual budget, the position that the prospective candidate will be filling in, the values and morals the candidate will be bringing to the table, their capability to critically think and find out of box solutions, the candidate’s leadership qualities, his/her technical affinity, and how receptive they are to the changing environment.
Keep Calm And Make Your Presence Known
As a parting note, I would like to iterate that one should follow their passion and stay true to yourself. Do not grab any job that comes your way. You might struggle for some time, but in the long run you will thank yourself for holding out. Prepare yourself for the right opportunity and make contacts and keep networking. Constantly touch up on your communication and people skills and prove your mettle. Blow away the employers with your passion and charisma and watch your career graph hit the skies.
I would also like to stress that the aim of education is to impart knowledge and help your fellow human beings, not make money. If you are more fortunate that others, do not build your walls higher, instead lengthen your dining table.
(As told to the editor)