The Hindu : Front Page : High marks... but no jobs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2005

Front Page

Front Page

High marks... but no jobs

M. Dinesh Varma

CHENNAI: A nation-wide test of skill sets among engineering graduates aspiring for jobs in the IT/BPO sectors has found low correlation between academic performance and employability levels.

The results of the test taken by 25,000 students from 800 colleges across seven States between January and April, in which they were assessed for verbal, analytical and mental application skills also indicated that the academic system was not aligned with expectations of industry.

The assessment carried out by Bangalore-based MeritTrac Services, a provider of pre-recruitment competence testing methodology, mapped the talent pool in the engineering stream based on skill levels and geographical distribution.

It is estimated that India produces 3.50 lakh engineers annually, and 60 per cent prefer jobs in IT to other streams.

Divergent needs

One of the conclusions of the survey is that there was a divergence in the understanding of requirements of three stakeholders — industry, campus placement officers and students.

"The next level for us is to involve the stakeholders in a process of understanding each other's requirements," Madan Padaki, Director of MeritTrac, said on Monday. Billed as India's first-ever comprehensive survey of fresh engineering graduates, the results of the exercise have provided empirical validation to what have only been anecdotal pointers to the quality of IT manpower available in the country.

But research by MeritTrac has shown a strong correlation between a high score in the IT abilities test and interview selection rate and job performance.

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