Crafting Your Career Advantage: Enhancing Employability in Today's Workscape

In an attempt to focus on growth and development with themes revolving around employment, skilling, MSME support and infrastructure, Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitaraman in her budget speech announced the allocation of Rs 14.8 lakh crore to uplift the “Gareeb, Mahila, Yuva, Annadata.” 

The FM announced a package of five schemes in order to facilitate employment and skilling, allocating Rs 14.8 lakh crore for education, employment, and skills, focusing on first-time employment.

The schemes aim to support job creation in manufacturing, employer support and internships. Financial assistance via student loans of up to Rs 10 lakh can be availed for higher education

The FM’s announcement brought to the forefront the alarming statistic that a significant chunk of the Indian “Yuva” is currently very likely to bend toward becoming “Gareeb” once they join the labour force. According to the Economic Survey of 2023-2024, only 51 per cent of the youth in India are employable, highlighting a vast disparity between education and employment. 

The budget has also initiated a new collaborative skilling program in conjunction with state governments and industries, with an aim to empower 20 lakh young individuals over the next five years. Sitaramanalso particularly expressed the government’s priority of increasing the participation of women in the workforce. The hope is to facilitate this by setting up hostels and creating partnerships to organise women-specific skill development programs. 1,000 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) will be upgraded to improve infrastructure and training facilities. 

“Expanding Degree Apprenticeship programs, which align with policy goals and employer needs, can create a specialised talent pool ready to meet industry demands. Increasing engagement in apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships from the current 0.14 per cent to 3 per cent of the workforce could result in approximately 20 million apprentices, substantially enhancing the talent pool in various industries,” Says Ramesh Alluri Reddy, Chief Executive Officer, Teamlease Degree Apprenticeship.

While these initiatives are certainly a steer toward an appropriate course, the youth would definitely like to have the reins to their futures in their hands as far as possible. So what can they do as new entrants to enhance their employability?

Self-Initiatives to Enhance Employability 

Karthikeyan Kesavan, Director and Head of Permanent Placements, at Adecco India, a workforce solutions company, recommends focusing on part time stints, campus recruitment, proactive networking and upscaling via additional certifications. He specially noted the importance of getting a foot in the door regardless of pay grade, imploring “securing employment within 12 months of graduating from college is paramount, even if it is a low-paying position. 

On-the-job exposure and corporate experience can significantly improve one's chances of securing a better job within 6-12 months. The budget announced a one-month salary of up to Rs 15,000 for first-time employees, registered in the EPFO, with payment made in three instalments to ensure continuous support. This should help alleviate some of the low pay related hesitation while taking up that first job as well. 

Internships, Apprenticeships and Campus Placements 

As such, internships, campus placements and degree apprenticeships are probably the surest shot method of making that initial breakthrough. Putting in six to nine months of preparation time, gathering themselves up mentally, doing their due diligence on companies, enhancing skills, building on their CVs, getting it reviewed and giving mock interviews. They can gear up using online resources such as interview, interview, warmup.

“Learning-embedded work programs, including apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships, are key solutions that can significantly reduce skill mismatches by 30 per cent and increase youth employability by 40 per cent over the next three years”, says Ramesh. 

Recruiters hiring through placement programs generally have well- established training processes and resources as well. This ensures a steady learning curve and opportunity for faster professional growth. Degree apprenticeships have the added advantage of giving the required exposure to studying simultaneously so the youth come out of university with significant work experience and a fallback company they can rejoin after.

To this end, in order to enhance the employability of the youth and equip them for the future, the government is planning for internship initiatives designed to provide hands-on experience and skill development opportunities. 

About one crore young adults are anticipated to be placed in internships across the top 500 companies of India over the next five years. Youth from villages in particular gain invaluable access and stand to notably benefit from this apprenticeship program. However, while engaging in part-time or bridge jobs facilitate progression towards a better job and is advisable on a broader spectrum, Kartikeyan cautions to watch out for part-time roles which are of monotonous nature. These may offer limited learning opportunities and so he advises to keep wary of such prospects.

Networking And Industry Connections

Even in a world seemingly losing the human touch as we incrementally advance toward AI, the role of a personal touch i.e. networking is undeniable. Kesavan advocates for freshers to “increase engagement and enhance visibility within the talent acquisition community through active participation on professional platforms such as LinkedIn, building a network and continually keeping profiles updated”. Jobcase and  Barkare other platforms for this as well. The likes of Lets Lunch are great pages to explore for a more approachable means of connecting. 

Starting to build on this network and establish a rapport with recruiters proves to be the differentiator between one and the thousands of others with similar qualifications competing for the same profiles. It helps recruiters better understand one's softer skills and personality which does not come forth in a resume. A top of mind recall when job openings come up gives one the first mover advantage as well, as recruiters tend to intimate people within their network of potential fits before opening up the position to the rest of the talent pool.

Mentorship

The most underrated element is often finding the right mentor. A mentor can be the biggest support one can get in their initial stages. At what can be the most daunting and overwhelming stage of a young adult's life, mentors can guide them on developing the additional skills needed to succeed, support them through the process, providing the nudge one needs to find the right direction. In addition to a plethora of experience and expertise they also come with a wide network of industry professionals and can set their mentees up with the resources and connections needed to land that first job.