Hyderabad engineering graduates seek refuge in BPO jobs

Lack of skills in most engineering graduates is leading them to work at a BPO. Participants of a national employability conclave in Hyderabad on Tuesday, December 11, 2012 highlighted the need to revamp the engineering curriculum to enhance students’ skills.

The low employability rate of the engineering graduates in Hyderabad has the industry, placement officers of colleges and recruiters, worried. On one hand, college officials complain that job offers through campus placements, are scarce. On the other hand, many companies are complaining about a lack of talent in freshers nowadays.

As per the National Employability Report 2011-12 of the employability measurement firm, the employability levels for students from several engineering colleges across Hyderabad revealed that 40.64% graduates went in for BPO jobs. Wherein, the figures were just 8.28% and 1.70% for Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) and IT product respectively.

In the national capital it was 10.91% for IT, 27.59% for KPOand 54.78% for BPO, which was considerably higher than Hyderabad. More than 50% of engineering graduates gravitate towards BPO jobs, either in technical or voice based processes, and consequently their professional growth path, remains very limited.

This clearly shows that engineering graduates, or freshers, do not possess adequate skills and are not up to the mark. This is the reason why companies spend millions on training them for 3 to 4 months, so that the candidate can be prepared to work in that specific industry.

At the conclave, many felt that in basic skills such as adaptability, attitude and communication should be handled right from the first year instead of a last-ditch attempt in the student’s final year. Officials from more than 100 colleges including top brands such as CBIT along with recruiters from elite companies such as Accenture India Limited,Cognizant Technology Solutions, IVRCL Infrastructures, Deloitte and HCL Technologiesparticipated in the event along with CA Technologies and Projects Limited.

The participants at the conclave agreed unanimously that the responsibilities of the placement officer should extend into counseling and training.

As per an official from the education industry, providing proper training to the candidates should also be taken into consideration along with projects, project-based learning and involvement in live projects. He claims that accumulating bookish knowledge to do well at the college level, Results in nothing more than a BPO job.

Source: The Economic Times