Focus areas for students during lockdown

“Future is uncertain, it has always been. But is there anything that stops someone from being certain about their skill sets” asks Manjula Krishna, Global HR Head of Empyra Software, when a question was asked on how the future hiring plans will be for college graduates this year. Manjula likes to stay positive about the future and is optimistic about normalcy being restored quickly. As an HR professional heading the HR operations of an MNC, Manjula thinks career centers should motivate students towards Skill Development. “Students should utilize the time they currently have to make their resumes rich, go online and learn something new, get certified. Keep your students occupied in learning rather than worrying about future” says Manjula. Join a webinar by Manjula Krishna on “Career Services during lockdown in HR perspective” on May 05, 2020 by registering here: Register for webinar

Skill Development – The way to go

We know, the market is temporarily not in a good shape, hiring will take a little bit of time to pick up, salary packages for freshers may not be as expected and there is this negative mood overall. But Career Centers cannot let their students be worried about all of these and not do enough for them. Students should improve their skill sets and make themselves fit for multiple roles in an organization. They should focus on learning new languages, technology and tools, marketing on digital space etc so that they could be market ready when economy is back in full swing. Let’s look at some of these in detail:

Languages:

Learn an extra language – could be Spanish, French, German etc. There are a lot of entry level jobs that require command over these languages.

Programming:

Students who are doing technology courses should focus on learning Java, Python or R. React JS, Angular JS and Node JS are also in high demand. There are several online courses available which the students can use for learning these technologies.

Data Analysis:

Data Analysis skills can open abundant job openings for students. A good understanding of SQL Server and tools such as Tableau are essential.

MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint:

Knowledge of MS office, Word and PowerPoint is essential for students from all streams and especially for business and commerce students.

More thoughts on the skill development focus area will be discussed in the webinar. The question would be where students would find those courses. These courses are available on Udemy, Pluralsight, LinkedIn Learning etc and a lot of free content is available on YouTube. SlideShare has several presentations free of cost which can be utilized for learning. All your students need is internet and a computer or a smartphone.

Career Services staff members can share PowerPoint Presentations, Word documents, PDF documents, YouTube videos through their Career Services Management system. During this lock-down period, please encourage your students to learn new skills. Another advantage of learning some of these skills mentioned here is that, they can be freelancers and support themselves till they find a permanent job. A lot of companies will be looking out to freelancers for some of these skills and there are several freelance platforms where students can register themselves and get hired if they have the right skill sets. This can give them regular income while in college and after college. More on this and more will be discussed on the webinar.

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