Students with international exposure emerge as preferred choice for jobs in India, reveals IC3 survey

A survey capturing the impact of career and college counseling was announced on Wednesday at the International Career and College Counseling (IC3) Conference that was hosted at JW Marriott, Aerocity, New Delhi.

Conducted in support with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) across India and other strategic locations of the world, the survey includes opinions of 'High Schools and Counselors', 'Students', 'Universities and Global Academic Institutions' and 'Industry Leaders'.

"As the survey insights state, Indian students have not been able to gain preference in comparison to the overseas students due to lack of exposure and right counseling at the right age. We really need to step up the counseling practices in India to help them gain the desired position in the international markets," said Ganesh Kohli, IC3 Conference Chair, President and Chief Mentor, KIC UnivAssist and Former High School College Counselor.

The following are some highlights from the IC3 survey:

•56 percent of universities feel that high schools need to play a bigger role in the smooth transition of students to universities

•A whopping 98 percent of universities feel that more information and counseling at the school level would better prepare students for university/college

•58 percent of universities' prime focus area while interacting with high-schools is "relationship-building/engagement" and 41 percent of universities admit that their focus area is mainly "student recruitment"

•Despite recent political shifts in different countries, 31 percent of universities have observed marginal increase (nearly 3-9 percent) in their international student enrolment this year and 45 percent of them feel it is the same as last year

•35 percent of pupils prefer their parents as a key source in terms of college selection - followed by Internet at 33 percent

•46 percent of educators feel that students and parents are very stressed about career-related decisions

Even today, students prefer opting for traditional courses as the career and college counseling practices in India are still not at par with the international standards. This is majorly due to lack of awareness and opportunities that the vocational courses offer in comparison to conventional following. 40 percent students say they prefer safer subject options such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, followed by 22 percent opting arts, entertainment and sports, 1 percent choosing business and finance, and 17 percent for health and medicine.

Some of the recent trends illustrate growing eminence of technology in the field of career-counseling and 38 percent of students have reported that their counselor uses some form of technology to guide them.

Also, the global political issues and complexities don't seem to stop the aspirations of the students, as per the survey insights. The student enrolment has gone up in the international markets with 45 percent of students preferring U.S. as their study-abroad destination, followed by 14 percent Canada, 13 percent U.K., 10 percent Australia, 8 percent South East Asia and 7 percent Europe.

"In today's digital world transition of a student from college to career must be developed on the basis of individual interest. Industry today is looking at engaging with students through structured seminars and forums to equip them with a complete know-how of different career options," said Shobha Mishra Ghosh, Asst. Secretary General-FICCI.

The event saw a healthy participation by subject matter experts from various fields such as Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Chairperson of Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), Pratik Mehta, Director - Education, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd, Pradeep Parameswaran, UBER Central Operations, India, UBER, Shalini Kapoor, Chief Architect- IoT Ecosystem Solutions, IBM and Sumit Sawhney, Country CEO and Managing Director - Renault India Operations.

A special honour was awarded to Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, Founder-Manager of City Montessori School for his contributions to the field of education.