GURGAON, India, April 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Despite the fact that 97 per cent of Indian companies plan to hire recent university graduates this year, almost 1 in 4 employers (23 per cent) believe that academic institutions are adequately preparing students for vacant roles in their organisations. Two-thirds (65 per cent) say universities are preparing students for "some roles, but not all", and 8 per cent do not believe they are preparing them adequately at all.
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The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder India of more than 400 employers.
When asked to name which workplace skills they think recent graduates' lack, half of employers cited interpersonal or people skills (50 per cent). Other skills lacking in new graduates, included:
"Though nearly all Indian companies plan to hire recent graduates, the vast majority of these do not feel students are adequately prepared for the workforce," says Premlesh Machama, Managing Director of CareerBuilder India. "This finding underscores the need for educational institutes to work closely with companies for developing effective curriculum to ensure the students acquire right skills which are needed by growing businesses."
Are New Graduates Ready?
When asked where specifically educational institutes are letting their students down in preparing for the workforce, employers cited the following concerns:
Which Degrees Have the Best Job Prospects?
Employers in India feel that the most desirable qualification for graduates to hold is a computer and information sciences degree, with 51 per cent of employers naming it the most in-demand degree at their firms, followed closely by engineering degrees (46 per cent). Business degrees are also in high demand (42 per cent), with communication technology (31 per cent), science technology (24 per cent) rounding out the list.
Where Are the Opportunities?
Employers are primarily looking towards new graduates to fill roles in information technology (62 per cent) and business development (59 per cent). Opportunities also abound in marketing (51 per cent) and customer service (46 per cent). Finance and accounting (43 per cent) round out the top five job types.
What Will These Jobs Pay?
Nearly two-thirds of employers (65 per cent) who plan to hire recent college graduates will offer higher starting salaries than they did last year. Almost one quarter of employers (24 per cent) expect salaries to stay the same, and 12 per cent expect to offer lower starting salaries.
However, salaries are not set in stone: The majority of employers (79 per cent) say they are willing to negotiate salary when extending job offers to recent graduates.
The majority of employers (94 per cent) who plan to hire new college graduates are willing to negotiate or provide new graduates with a variety of perks. After salary, the most popular benefits employers say they will negotiate are the following:
*Percentages may add up to more than 100 due to rounding.
Methodology
The survey was conducted among 410 adults with decision making influence for hiring staff in India. The interviews were conducted online by Redshift Research in March & April 2015, using an e-mail invitation and an online survey.
Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.8 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
Sample was selected from the Crowdology & Crowdology partner panels. Crowdology™ is an online panel owned and operated by Redshift Research. The Crowdology™ panel is balanced across regional, age and gender demographic factors, and is nationally representative of the UK population. Each respondent completes 120 profiling questions before being accepted to join our panel. Panel Quality Management is carried out frequently to ensure reliable surveys.
Although Redshift specializes in providing services to Marketing Communications companies (the Crowdology polling panel, for example) it has a long pedigree of full service research project execution across industry sectors. Redshift Research is adept at executing focus groups, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, online research, desk research and statistical modelling, to mention just a few techniques.
About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder India (http://www.CareerBuilder.co.in)is a 100% subsidiary of CareerBuilder LLC. CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors and 1 million jobs. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing everything from labour market intelligence to talent management software and other recruitment solutions. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.careerbuilder.co.in
Media Contact:
Ankur Tandon,
[email protected],
+91-9871974707,
Marketing Manager,
CareerBuilder India
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