Open Avenues | Advertorials: 2022 Business School Special

Reinventing and Adapting to the Changing Times is Key to Employability

Interview with Vishwas Gautam, Head of Brand and Marketing Communications at MIET

Open Open | 21 Jan, 2022

If the pandemic left several people dejected and pushed many people out of their comfort zone, it also taught a lot of us to think out of the box and quickly adapt to the new situation. While 2020 was touted as the Year of Resignation, 2022 does seem to look a lot better in terms of employability. According to India Skills Report 2022, India’s employability rate has improved marginally to 46.2 per cent from 45.97 per cent this year, which means not only are companies looking for well qualified and skilled graduates, but according to the same report, 51.44 per cent of women are highly employable as well. While things are starting to look slightly on the brighter side, is a degree from a reputed college enough to survive today? In conversation with Vishwas Gautam, Head of Brand and Marketing Communications at MIET Group of Institutions talks about the employability scenario in the country…

According to India Skill Report 2022, as many as 46.2 per of students are employable in 2022 as compared to 45.9 per cent in 2021. Do you feel that things are finally looking up in the country?

What Covid did was expose the vulnerability of many working professionals – companies were able to see who is skilled and who was managing to survive only through their degree. Unlike before, if someone graduated from an IIT, there was always a job security. That is no longer the case. When it comes to employability in the current scenario, skills play a major role – employability is directly proportional to skills. If you don’t have the required skills the recruiter is looking for, it is natural that the employability rate will come down. However, ever since the pandemic the number of students and faculty members who have gone online and have added certificates to their CV and learnt different skills has gone up. When you show that apart from your degree, you have learnt more skills and have completed certificate courses, it adds to your resume and that’s what companies are looking for as well. Though the numbers are not big but it is a positive trend and this will continue to grow only if students and working professionals adapt to situations and add more skills to their skill set.

In MIET, we do things differently. If we see a student possess the qualities of being an entrepreneur, we push them in that direction. Similarly if a student has the caliber to crack through IAS or any other government exam, we put them in that box and so on and so forth. These boxes are simultaneously working along with placements.

According to the same report, sectors in which the most hiring will take place are IT, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI). How do B-School students fare in such industries?

What has happened in our management education is that it has been one-dimensional and predictable for a very long time. Why was there a slump in MBA graduates being hired a few years back? Because every college was producing MBA graduates and each one was a replica of one another – there was no distinction at all, nothing that could separate them from one another. It was only in recent years that management institutions began reinventing their courses. Management colleges began diversion as per the skill the candidates have. We are not an Ivy League college but our students have been absorbed and recruited in some of the top companies in the world because we educate them and teach them skills that separates them from others. Colleges are now adding more certificate courses such as data science and analytics, because they now realize these skills are required for students and just one degree is not enough. Earlier you could be good at one thing and could survive in an organization for a really long time – that’s not the case anymore. You need to be multi-talented and need the knowledge for at least two domains. Even fields like social media management are gaining so much popularity because people now realize its importance and understand that you have to be good at least two things. We are reinventing our system and will get there. However, what also needs to be taken into consideration is the importance of internships. For example – big sporting events in the country are a great way to provide internships to MBA students. Can you imagine how it will affect a student’s thinking if they get internships in at such big league events – it will change their mindset and the way they approach their work.

How has MIET performed when it comes to campus placement, especially since COVID?

Even before the pandemic hit us, MIET moved strategically into campus placements. We have been talking to companies in different ways and we were telling them that ‘look our students have been given the best education. They are trained and are on par with their Ivy League counterparts.’ What worked for us is that companies realized that we were already training students and teaching them things that the company would, once our students joined them – it’s been a win-win situation. We are already teaching students what they will learn once they join a particular company, so that has worked for our students.

It was only in recent years that management institutions began reinventing their courses. Management colleges began diversion as per the skill the candidates have. We are not an Ivy League college but our students have been absorbed and recruited in some of the top companies in the world because we educate them and teach them skills that separates them from others.

Due to COVID, many employees were laid off by their companies and many were asked to work part time. With Covid still looming over us, how do B-School students have an advantage over others?

There’s a famous saying, “First impression is the last impression.” For a graduate who has just started working professionally, it is his or her attitude towards certain qualities like team leadership, being a team member and taking initiative- if he or she shows these qualities they definitely will score over others. Covid has taught us that we need to reinvent with the times and adapt and think quickly on our feet. We have to acquire more than one skillset to survive in the industry and that is what B-school students now have learnt and are taught. It is no longer a case where you walk in with a degree and you can be secure about the job. I know it sounds harsh but it is the truth.

How does MIET prepare its students for the future given how uncertain a lot of things are?

A lot of people think that placements are the only thing when it comes to quantifying a student’s success. In MIET, we do things differently. If we see a student possess the qualities of being an entrepreneur, we push them in that direction. Similarly if a student has the caliber to crack through IAS or any other government exam, we put them in that box and so on and so forth. These boxes are simultaneously working along with placements. Placement is not the end. If a student has an idea of a startup, say in his second year, we encourage the student to reach out to us and will even back them financially. Who knows we may produce five such entrepreneurs from MIET…

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