Employability and Career Readiness through Curriculum and Ability Perception of Students

Employability can be defined as the condition that facilitates to acquire job opportunities in any field. A change in the curriculum to encourage expertise in a particular area will help to meet the demands of the dynamic, uncertain workplace that is a part and parcel of the governmental expectations and traditional core values and also to adjust and adapt to the challenging work environment. It is here that the skills especially skills associated with career readiness and other life skills prepare the student to accept the challenges and face competition in a healthy way.

Meaning of the term ‘Employability’

Employability is a term that is mainly defined as a capability to suit, adjust and adapt to a new, unknown, and dynamic workforce. Employability focuses on the inherent skills of an individual crossing all boundaries across its length and breadth and strives on its depth through expertise in a particular area.

Curriculum of Employability

The Curriculum of Employability should be designed in such a manner that it is beneficial for both the employer as well as the student. Further, it should help students to develop their employability skills, career readiness by developing the ability for self-reflection and to identify and articulate their skills, competencies, interests, and motivations in relation to their career planning. Employability also emphasizes strengthening communication skills. The student has to deliver his best in a challenging, unknown, uncertain territory in which he has to adapt to his respective areas of expertise into multiple contexts, industries, or workplaces

Focus On Employability

Employability focuses on the ability of an individual to find a suitable job by acquiring real skills required by the said job. That is to say, to possess both expertise in a specific discipline and having the intelligence to apply

Important Employability Characteristics

The National Associations of Colleges and Employers, NACE, recently published the skills and qualities that employers are looking for in college graduates. In the report, NACE states: “Employers considering new college graduates for job openings are looking for leaders who can work as part of a team and communicate effectively.” Here are the skills NACE reports as most important to employers, in order of priority:

• Communication skills (written)
• Problem-solving skills
• Strong work ethic
• Analytical/Quantitative skills
• Technical skills
• Communication skills (verbal)

Conclusion

We would suggest that more and more skills related to specific workplace should be incorporated in the curriculum of academics. This includes enhancement of communication skills as well as real life skills to enable the student for career readiness.

Dr. Gurusharan Kaur
Department of Applied Sciences
Sagar Institute of Research and Technology,
Bhopal, M.P. India