A new gap is clearly emerging between what academic institutions perceive of their graduates and what corporate employers feel their readiness levels are, as brought out in a new report, ‘Momentum 2024: The New Reality in College Hiring’. Whereas 70% of academic institutions perceive their graduates to be well-prepared for the corporate world, a mere 16% of companies share this optimistic view. The existence of such a huge gap points to a problem of long duration, which is matching changing industry expectations with educational curriculums.

Compiled by recruitment automation firm HirePro with the help of AI, that brings these insights from over 20,000 candidates, 350 colleges, and 200 corporates, along with over 100 campus talent recruiters’ interviews. This points to a vital gap in the realization of “industry readiness,” and it advises upon academia as well as corporates to take a relook at their approaches to prepare students for the realities that the job market brings.

Students’ Perceptions of Skills and Internships

Interestingly enough, there has been a variance in how students have started to look at their performance at the academic level in relation to landing a job. About 71% of students interviewed said a high CGPA would be of no use, and there must be a top preference of technical capability over traditional placement, for it was important in gauging the same. This would be better carried out in a more practical approach toward this nature of education.

In addition, students perceive internships as one of the most important ways to work for experience, emphasizing that internships are what makes the gulf between the theory and practice worlds. Of these students, 68% would be willing to relocate for a good internship opportunity, yet lone-wolf mentality still persists as corporates prefer the erstwhile parameter of academic performance as the most crucial determinant while shortlisting, ignoring institution reputation and practical experience in the candidate profile.

The Need for Collaboration

The report also touches on reactions being mixed for the National Education Policy 2020, which allows studies to be interrupted, taking a break from the year. While 59% of students are okay with it, surprisingly, only 30% of academic institutions and a mere 16% of corporates are in favor of it, signifying the critical need to bring better alignment in educational policies and industry requirements.

S. Pasupathi, COO, HirePro, adds: “Corporates have to increase their collaboration with academia and the student community. Indeed, the changing landscape today is such that the economy is no longer a homogenous one. Industries are changing, economies are dynamic, and accordingly, the student profile is also getting trapped in this change. “It is important that all stakeholders adapt their approach and fill in the expectation gaps,” he says.

CONCLUSION

One would wish that the conclusions drawn from the ‘Momentum 2024’ report should serve as a clarion call for both meaningful dialogue and a collaborative process between educational institutions and corporate employers. Traditionally, they could heal the differences in perceptions about graduate preparedness between them to set up a unified, coherent framework for student preparation against the challenges lying ahead in the modern workforce. The job outlook is changing all the time, and so do the tools that need to be employed by both academia and industry to give assurance that graduates are prepared adequately to satisfy the needs of the job market.