Harish Bhattiprolu

It is the 'Opportunity Age' and studies predict that skills shortage is one phenomenon that we may see world over. With its great population, China is slated to experience a massive skills shortage of up to 10 million resources by 2020 due to its policies.

Jamaica has a over 600,000 population of youth between the ages of 18 - 35 ready to mature into a Valued Workforce in the next couple of decades. This is a potential, which is ready to be harnessed. If the youth can get to measure up to the requirements of the industry, this potential can lead to staggering employment opportunity and a quantum leap in the economic conditions.

It is important to understand the mechanisms that operate in the work environment to start with. Studies have led to identifying clarity in approach before seeking employment. It is my firm belief that students must understand the dynamic of their future work environment and prepare for it now.

Students must understand that organizations are looking for Talent. Now Talent is not to be interpreted as the skill levels of a person, but also attitudes, which make up the complete person along with skills. It is only talent, organizations have discovered, which can truly bring about sustained work performance. The youth of today must prepare to be recognized as 'Talent' henceforth, not just 'Skills'.

Choosing Curriculum

In today's academic curriculum there is a two pronged approach being recognized towards developing it towards meeting the challenges of nurturing an effective workforce.

• There is a move being made towards rapidly updating curriculum to meet industry needs.


• This is being given impetus through initiatives of trade bodies.
  Hitherto ignored areas such as soft skill enablement and currently known 'extra-curricular' activities are increasingly being made a part of curriculum itself.

Therefore while making the decision to select the next step in academics I would strongly urge students to look at the curriculum offered and recognize the content suitable to the followingâ¦

(Personality Enablement)
Strong emphasis onâ¦

• Reading comprehension


• Analytical exercises


• Reasoning and problem solving


• Business Communications

â¦elements must be demonstrated in the curriculum.
It is important to recognize that 'delegation of responsibility', 'Objection Handling' with a client and such skills are not easily recognized in curriculum. One must be able to nurture these within the academic environment.

(Technical Enablement)
Information Technology curriculum must incorporate the technologies of current use such as Enterprise Application technologies and tools. In addition to technology specific elements a strong course should include the aspects such asâ¦

• Software Development Life Cycle approach (SDLC)


• Software Testing Processes with the Metric Approach.


• Elements of System analysis and Design Considerations with Modeling included approach


• Process Approach and Measurement

In the Bachelors programs in Universities one must elect to engage with courses which offer such a curriculum.

(Behavioral Trait Recognition)
The top institutions have always attracted the 'Top' talent because of their ability to filter prospective students through 'Group Discussions' and 'Dissertation'. These would enable the institution chose those who have the ability to summarize (Organization Trait) their beliefs while being Assertive (Leadership Trait) in making them known in the forum provided. This ability makes one a leader and performer.

Curriculums that offer the ability to generate confidence through such exercises must be chosen. This curriculum makes the once dormant 'assertive' behavioral trait, active and ready to deploy.

How often one muses, ' I have the talent, I know I have it, why is it that I cannot demonstrate it?' The answer to that question is: opportunity - lack of the opportunity to nurture and grow it. This is what our teachers refer to as "Hidden Talent". If not unearthed by the person himself this may remain 'Hidden Forever'.
Strong work orientation and customer centric approach etc are also recognizable traits on oneself. Armed with knowledge on one's own traits, we must find opportunities to demonstrate these abilities and capture that experience.
Students must find curriculum that allows an opportunity to identify, nurture and show-case the talents one possesses.

Those curriculum which offers 'Live work' and 'A Case Study Analysis' approach would serve to invigorate the 'thinking' often required to allow this talent to surface.

(The Teacher)
The Teacher is an important piece of the educational machinery. Great course curriculum is rendered useless if the appropriate teaching component is not incorporated. Therefore it is important to bear in mind that checking the antecedents and experience of the professors and teachers of the academic institutions is useful

(Domains for IT Growth)
It is also important to remember that Domain is important. It has been predicted by Studies that

• Retail/Wholesale trade


• Healthcare


• Utilities


• Transportation and Logistics


• Telecom

are the high growth domains for the next decade in addition to the currently 'HOT' Categories such as Financial Services Manufacturing Governance - Public Planning etc

Therefore students must choose to elect that curriculum which provides the required domain knowledge in such areas.

(The Campus Placement)
In an organizations effort to find the "Talent' they require it is common to see talent acquisition efforts in Campus. This is a great way for an organization to recognize the talents (Skills and Attributes) they need and then grow the individual to their needs.

It is important to bear in mind that those students who have a strong mind and clarity on what they would like to achieve in their career should chose the campus placement opportunity with care, as such an opportunity may be a thing of pride and convenience, but if it doesn't meet with the objectives one may have, it would lead to a disappointment.

Campus placements are however a very successful source of talent acquisition in the industry today. It has been a very potent and successful launch for many a career. It is not the only way of course, Job Fairs, Walk-Ins and Internships are other ways to find the first opportunity.

(The author is Director, Intelligroup Asia, based in India)

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