The Hindu Business Line : ‘It’s vital to equip oneself with skills needed for a job’

Focus on skills: (From left): Mr Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman, CII, Tamil Nadu; Mr Ashwin Mahalingam, Member, Taskforce on Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship; Mr V. Srinivasan, Past President, CII; Mr Manikam Ramaswami, Vice-Chairman, CII, TN; and Mr Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman, Cognizant Technology Solutions, at the release of special publication on 101 successful entrepreneurs of Tamil Nadu during the TN Entrepreneurship Summit.

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Chennai, March 30 Don’t prepare for a job, but prepare to acquire skills that will help to have a great job, Mr Ravi Nandyala, Senior Manager, Cognizant Technology Solutions, told students at a seminar on career guidance.

“Most important for you (students) is to understand what the industry wants and prepare accordingly. Identify areas of interests and acquire skills to apply for a job. Specialisation can be in any field in information technology, including software development, software testing and maintenance,” he said at the seminar organised by Shree Sastha Institute of Engineering Technology in association with The Hindu Business Line.

“We need lots of talent. We try to make our talent pool deployable and make an individual a customer delight,” he said.

Mr Nandyala said around 3.55 lakh engineers pass out every year, but only 10-15 per cent of that number is employable. To make more ‘readily deployable’ students, the academic system should be changed to meet the requirements of the industry. This is not easy, and should involve the major stakeholders, namely the education system; employers and students, he said.

According to Mr C.R. Muthukrishnan, Adviser, Tata Consultancy Services, “world is open to you (students) only when you are competent. There is opportunity for everybody to have a job. Equip yourselves with necessary skills. Degree or no degree, you have a job,” he said.

He gave an example of TCS recruiting diploma holders to work in the company’s infrastructure support division. There are around 7,000 employees in the division with about 50 per cent of them being diploma holders, he said.

Mr Muthukrishnan’s advice to students was to take studies in college seriously and sincerely. This is not only for exams, but also to make sure to have good grasp of subjects. “Develop intellectual sharpness and discover your own strength,” he said.

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