More often than not young people feel under prepared after graduating and then moving through their first job and hands on experience into doing something practical. It is because of the gap in the knowledge and experience that can prepare them to know what is required to get hired or what skills are required to work in a dynamic work environment. From freshmen through final year in college the amount of information and experience one receives to put them on a path of gaining necessary skills to work are few to none.

Where I see incapability and a gap of the university regime to change the course and develop some educational and experiential programs, I see an opportunity for organisations to step in during a young person’s university experience and be more accessible through online or physical means, like internship programs, to really develop the kind of skills required in the industry.

In this blog I want to talk about the gaps in skill development of young people, and where can organisations step in and contribute:

1. No idea about which educational programs will land them a job

Remembering your own days when transitioning from school to college and trying to figure which path to choose so that you have a successful career was a gamble. Eventually you end up choosing the most common one and where the crowd sways to. Providing insights and communicating exactly what companies are looking for becomes a key agenda for developing skilled individuals. What will define for companies the decision to hire – experience, a degree, internships, extracurricular activities? These basic questions can be answered for example through a program with freshmen in college. Most companies don’t meet college students until they are in their pre-final or final years. Why not do it earlier?

2. Opportunities for young people to start hands on experience with the industry during college years

More and more organisations are leaning towards acquiring early talent and training them right after college or during college years so that they can gain the right skills for the industry. However, it is still just not enough. More training programs, internships and collaboration between educational institutions and companies to provide opportunities, to be more in a work environment than in theoretical classes, are needed.

3. Organisations to stop looking for “ready made” employees

If most of our education system does not equip the young people for jobs, then where are these so called ‘skilled people’ being recruited from? The truth is, most organisations recruit and then invest in training the recruits for the job. There are training programs in most IT companies which do college recruitment – however this trend is not constant in every organisation. Organisations need to understand that investing in L & D of young employees can help them win the war. Read more in one of our previous blogs: How much time is invested per week on skill development?

4. The education industry itself must rethink its model

The coming technical disruptors (EdX, Udacity, and other online education providers) are experimenting with new business models. Companies like Google and Facebook release online learning platforms for each of their products and guides on how to succeed using their tools.

Educational institutes need to step on their toes in developing collaborations with industry leaders in such programs to develop skills in young people and not just rely on the curriculum to work itself out. Refer to a blog which talks about teacher development programs and supply and demand.

Bottom line: Skills matter and it’s hard to get them. To succeed in the dynamic 21st century, organisations need to step in if they want to win in talent. Finding collaborations or developing programs to help young people develop skills. Talking about talent acquisition, why would a talented young person not choose your company to work in if he/she acquired skills from your programs during his learning years in college? So, how is your organisation moving towards this mission?