“Corporate companies are taking into account the overall skill sets of the students, not just their academic performance, while giving placement,” says Yogesh Kochhar, Director (Regulatory and Public Policy) of the Microsoft Corporation India Private Limited. “We are not keen on choosing the toppers, as academic excellence alone will not help the candidates do their job right. Skills and attitude will play an importance role in the selection process,” he explains.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the ‘Meet the Leader’ programme organised by the Pragati Engineering College at Surampalem, Mr. Kochhar feels that the present day education system is consumptive, but not creative. “Students are wasting their time by getting glued to the social networking sites. They can use the same sites for thinking out of the box. But, in reality their valuable time is being eaten by certain websites,” he says. “Creativity will help people go places and our CEO Satya Nadella is a classic example of this. His appointment to the coveted post has made all Indians feel proud and gave a boost to the nation’s image in the international market,” says Mr. Kochhar.
After its tie-up with the mobile phone major Nokia, Microsoft is now transitioning from software services provider to devices and services provider. The outcome of this evolution, however, is not there on the fresh recruitments. “Evaluation is a continuous process in any organisation. The Microsoft’s policy is outcome-based, but not solution-based. Our perspective is towards the long-run,” he says.
Immediate needBesides making changes to the curriculum to make education a creative process, Mr. Kochhar feels there is an immediate need to encourage medium and small entrepreneurs in the country. “The corporate companies cannot accommodate all the graduates even as the firms are on the expansion mode. SME sector can provide a good number of jobs and the youngsters must be encouraged towards establishing business units,” he says.
