Employment and employability are two commonly used terms in education and job circles. While the terms are related and incidentally, we are challenged with both of these in today’s time, these have vastly different contexts and need different mechanisms to be handled.

Let us look at these 2 terms one by one in a simplified manner in the context of an engineering student

Employment

What it is about - It is about getting a “relevant” job 

Qualifying statements -  The lack of employment related concerns can be captured in following statements

• “Educated engineers are not getting jobs. I know 50% of my classmates / my daughter’s classmates are without a job”
• “There are no relevant jobs for engineers and they are (forced to) doing jobs which bear small or no relevance to their education” 

Influencing / Contributing factors - Govt, economy, political situation, demographics, stability etc… 

What should students do – To find employment, students can mainly focus on

• Identify job openings available across channels and apply
• Build network to increase their search chances
• Focus on academics and project e.g. obtain certain minimum marks, do practical projects to fulfil eligibility criteria
• Find out skills in demand and acquire relevant technical skills
• Fine tune their resume & interview skills

Impact of competition – In finding employment, competition has major bearing.  For each job, there are multiple aspirants and given there are not enough jobs, a number of candidates will remain unemployed. 

Dependent on external factors Vs Things in self control –Even when a good qualified student does everything in his control, his employment chances are dependent on number of jobs available in market i.e. external factors beyond his control. 

Consequences – Young graduates either remain employed for certain period thus struggle to earn their livelihood or pick up jobs which they would have got even without pursuing engineering. 

What possessing an employment doesn’t mean –   When someone is employed, it doesn’t mean he has it in him to remain employed or that he will continue to be employed for long.

For improving your chances of employment, this site provides a lot of useful resources on technical skills in demand, resume writing and interview tips and list of available job opportunities for the engineering students and recent graduates 

Employability

What it is about - It is the combination of skills, attributes and attitudes to be able to successfully do the work in chosen occupation.  It is not about simply getting a job. 

Qualifying statements -  employability related concerns can be captured in following statements

•  “X% of engineers are employable”
• “lack of employability of Indian engineers makes it difficult for companies to scale up ”
• “companies are losing $xxM every year owing to low employability of engineers” 

Influencing / Contributing factors – Quality of education, student experiences, industry exposure, guidance, availability of mentors, individual personality and attitude 

What should students do – To improve employability, students can focus on

• Gaining industry exposure through internship and tours
• Learn from industry veterans on what attributes are valued
• Start developing these skills during their engineering course
• Become more competent individuals who are capable to handle different practical situations 

Impact of competition – Its positive impact is that it helps people become better by forming partnerships and observing their more proficient colleagues. Its negative impact is limited to performance evaluation systems. Overall, In employability, impact of competition is subdued 

Dependence on external factors Vs Things in self control – Improving employability is mainly in self control. It has very limited reliance on external factors. 

Consequences – Lack of employability hurt young graduates and companies even at times when employment situation is good.   

Companies find difficult in selecting employable candidates and graduates find difficulty in getting jobs

When engineers are found not employable after being employed for some time, companies lose a lot of money on their training or finding replacements while so far employed engineers suddenly find themselves as unemployed.  This hits their self confidence & career planning. They find themselves in lurch with a need to start afresh. 

What possessing employability skills doesn’t mean –   Having employability skills doesn’t guarantee you a sustained job but gives you more control and tools over your career

To improve employability skills, fellowtechies provide you with meaningful resources on developing different skills along with insights by industry veterans on what they value in their teams.

Have a good career.