“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking”
William Butler Yeats
There are 95 lack Graduates including 15 lack Engineers passing out every year in India. Around two lakh can crack Civil Services, Bank PO, CDS, CAT/MBA etc. The large chunk of close to 90 lack graduates then have nowhere to go and they have nothing to help them become employable. This goes on year on year. Out of 30 applying for one job only one gets it. Therefore there is a huge number of unemployed graduates and school drop outs.
Even post graduates are finding difficult to crack interviews. There are several PG candidates for one job too!
What is the problem?
Everyone is not cut out to be a topper. An average graduate needs to get a simple average job.
But they are unable to convert interviews to getting a job even as a receptionist or a sales executive.
For instance, if ten people are sitting for an interview or a discussion, all things equal; how do you hit the right chord with the interviewer. It is content, that matters. It is not ‘how you speak’ that matters but ‘what you speak’ matters more.
In fact, much more is needed to develop the intellect of a candidate so that he looks well-informed and actually educated- he has to be seen as ‘first amongst equals’ out of 20 job seekers applying for same post.
There are jobs but you can’t find the right guy!
When I speak to the industry, I am told that ‘you interview 20 candidates and sometimes you cannot get even one who you can hire’. And this is no exaggeration. Today MSME sector is looking for graduates who have some idea of basic human competence, interpersonal skills and values.
Jobseekers don’t have simple, summarized, easy-to-understand books to build intellect at their pace and level. Even to start a small business you must look intelligent and present in front of others confidently! They don’t need high-flying stuff and cannot relate to foreign authors like Stephen Covey, Steve Jobs or Jim Collins. In addition, most of such books are for people who are already working and need to make self-improvement. Secondly, they get intimidated by books that are 350 pages thick and too difficult for them to handle on their own.
As a Director of a Management institute with Symbiosis University for a decade, I had interviewed more than 8000 students. I know exactly what the graduates lack and why they cannot crack a job interview.
What is the solution?
You need simple under 80 pages books on a very broad content continuum covering topics like Patience, applied Leadership, ethos of armed forces, taking initiative, Integrity, Self-esteem Adaptability, Empathy and much more- that is how you will be different and that is what people judging you are looking in you today? There should be self-assessment questions too.
These books can be carried by job seekers as part of portfolio. Interview panel does give some grace to those who read.
These books will help a large cross section of students from schools to colleges and help an individual in School/college debates, group discussions and even informal chats with friends in a cafeteria. Appearing genuinely intellectual, well-read is important. Impressing friends, relatives and everyone who meets you. Being able to impress anyone in the first five minutes of interaction not by looks but with intelligence. Improving your grip on the language, expression and vocabulary. Appearing for a job Interview.
I would like you to be different and yet be miles ahead from the competition. In fact, there should be no comparison and no competition for you whichever situation you are in -once you read these books.
Reading books is the way to go
There is enough evidence that reading alone can build intellect and confidence. By now people are overwhelmed by online teaching and even videos can’t impact the human brain as leisurely reading. By watching an Olympian swim from outside the pool and learning swimming is not possible!
Researchers in Spain and Israel took a close look at 54 studies comparing digital and print reading. Their 2018 study involved more than 171,000 readers. Comprehension, they found, was better overall when people read print rather than digital texts. The researchers shared the results in Educational Research Review.
Much of what we read on-screen tends to be text messages and social-media posts. They’re usually easy to understand. So, “when people read on-screen, they read faster,” says Alexander at the University of Maryland. “Their eyes scan the pages and the words faster than if they’re reading on a piece of paper. But when reading fast, we may not absorb all the ideas as well.
Patricia Alexander is a psychologist at the University.
India story
We are the fifth largest economy and chugging along fast. We need people who can do simple jobs too besides great scientists and strategists. Rural India is progressing fast and wants to progress faster.
They need content- simple content in regional languages.
India is changing fast and we need to look at ‘Micro Reading’ seriously.
‘God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them.’
Franz Kafka
Author is an inspirational Guru who has authored more than 40 books. He has specially written ten micro books for this purpose.
