Career planning should begin in first year of college instead of final semester

Come September, the campuses in India start buzzing with a new activity. Smartly dressed students move around busily from session to session to prepare for the upcoming placement season. The students practice speaking, act out mock interviews, write tests, participate in group discussions, and analyze case studies, all under the watchful eyes of professionals from firms hired solely for this purpose. Placement preparation is the name of the game, and developing career skills is the promise. The activity is significant. Industry estimates that the placement preparation business is worth ₹ 50000-60000 crores annually. But how well is this money spent?

Industry surveys and anecdotal evidence suggest that there is room for improvement. A recent survey of corporates reveals that more than 75% of the corporates found their campus hires to be underprepared. When industry layoffs occur, students may face greater uncertainty about employment. Media reports regularly cite claims from industry leaders that less than 15% of STEM graduates are employable. Even for those landing campus jobs, the wage disparity between graduates from the top institutes and others points to differences in outcomes. These observations raise questions about what students need to prepare for the workplace.

Perhaps we should start by asking some basic questions. What does career mean? Jobs may come and go. But career suggests something more robust, something more durable as one progresses in the professional ladder. A job can be temporary. Technologies change, businesses are impacted by socio-economic changes, and these can induce job redundancies. But a career can involve longer-term development. When a student is offered training for career development, how does the intervention enable the student to face future career uncertainties?

The picture becomes clearer if we distinguish between knowledge and skills. As a general principle, knowledge is teachable and learnable. In today’s AI-leveraged world, knowledge is widely accessible. Even if what you learned years ago during your degree program is obsolete, new knowledge is accessible, teachable as well as learnable. Knowledge by itself may not provide a lasting advantage. If, for instance, you know Microsoft Excel, you are probably only a couple of months ahead of someone who is starting to learn it today.

Skills, on the other hand, are different. Skills are learnable, but not always teachable through passive instruction. They are acquired through active practice and coaching. Conflict management, negotiation, diplomacy, designing new products, communication and critical thinking are examples of skills that can be developed over time and are valued in workplaces.

Skills can also retain their relevance over time. This makes them important for careers to move forward. Stable careers are not built on knowledge alone. They necessarily revolve around continuous acquisition of useful skills.

The idea that skills cannot always be obtained passively opens a long road ahead.

Acquiring skills requires perseverance, personal effort and time. In his book, ‘Outliers’, the author Malcolm Gladwell discusses the ‘10,000-hour rule’, suggesting that achieving mastery over a complex skill requires sustained engagement and practice. The Mahabharata tale of Eklavya, who mastered archery through long practice, echoes a similar idea. The idea of career planning and workplace expectations have the same root. It is the possession, or lack of skills. If students do not have them today, developing them takes time. Scrambling around during the last semester is unlikely to provide enough time for sustained practice.

Career planning, therefore, can begin in the first year of college, allowing students to build skills gradually alongside academic learning. This approach gives students opportunities to explore interests, gain experience, practise skills, and understand expectations.

• Placement preparation is not the same as career preparation: Mock interviews and aptitude tests may help students secure jobs, but long-term careers require broader capabilities.

• Knowledge alone is no longer enough: In an AI-enabled world, information and technical knowledge can increasingly be accessed and learned quickly.

• Skills require sustained practice: Communication, negotiation, critical thinking, conflict management and problem-solving develop through active practice and coaching.

• Career resilience depends on adaptable skills: Technologies and jobs can change, while transferable skills can help students respond to evolving workplace requirements.

• Start developing skills early: Last-semester preparation may be insufficient; students benefit from building professional skills consistently throughout their education.

(The author is Professor and Dean Academics, Prestige University)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Prof Milind Padalkar

[email protected]