Studying Abroad Ups Your Chances of Job in India: Survey

By Little India Desk | September 5, 2017

Indian students with international exposure are preferred for jobs over students who have studied in the country, reveals a recent survey. Conducted in support with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the survey was conducted across India and other strategic locations of the world.

“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 counselling at the right age,” Ganesh Kohli, president of recruitment consulting firm KIC UnivAssist told the media. “We really need to step up the counselling practices in India to help them gain the desired position in the international markets.”

Despite the shifts in the political scenario in different countries, 31 per cent of universities have seen a marginal increase (nearly 3-9%) in their international student enrolment this year while 45 per cent of them said it is the same as last year. As many as 45 per cent students prefer the United States as their study-abroad destination, followed by 14 per cent for Canada, 13 per cent for the eUK, 10 per cent for Australia, 8 per cent for South East Asia and 7 per cent for Europe.

According to the survey, which included the opinions of industry leaders, counsellors and students of high schools, universities and other academic institutions, 56 per cent of universities feel that high schools need to play a bigger role in the smooth transition of students to universities. More information and counselling at the school level would better prepare students for university/college, 98 per cent of the colleges felt.

The prime focus area of about 58 per cent of universities while interacting with high schools is “relationship-building/engagement” while 41 per cent of universities said their focus area is mainly “student recruitment”.

The survey also showed subject preferences for Indian students, with 40 per cent of them opting for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, followed by 22 per cent students choosing arts, entertainment and sports. Only about 1 per cent choose business and finance, while 17 per cent prefer health and medicine. With traditional courses seeing a major chunk of the preference, it appears that career and college counselling practices in India are still not at par with international standards.

The survey also captured the growing presence of technology in career counselling as 38 per cent of students said that their counsellor uses some form of technology to guide them.
“In today’s digital world transition of a student from college to career must be developed on the basis of individual interest,” Shobha Mishra Ghosh, assistant secretary general-FICCI, said to the media. “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.”