Freshers Rising to the Skills-Based Economy in India, shows Apna’s research
Highlighting skilling opportunities in the job posting will be a key differentiator for employers hiring for freshers
As freshers finish college and start searching for jobs, their professors, parents, and seniors readily give advice - They should complete extra courses, reach out to their contacts for referrals, and develop skills. Ideal jobs should have high salaries, job security, and respect. When we visited colleges a year ago, freshers echoed this trusted advice. Yet one year later, the answers are shifting. Freshers now assess jobs through a skills-based lens. When choosing which job to take, opportunities to gain skills are very important to freshers. Based on the study conducted by our research team, below, we describe these initial findings, and how recruiters can leverage this movement to attract motivated freshers.
Skills-based economy reaches a new group
In the skills-based economy, skills are currency: by applying their skills, employees, both, create value for firms and gain the job benefits — including flexibility — that they desire. Many groups of workers have risen to the challenge. Under government schemes, four crore people gained vocational skills over 2015–2022. With a competitive white-collar job market and ongoing layoffs, professionals increasingly turn to edTech to both protect and boost their career progression. While these skilling initiatives have experienced significant growth, there remain several groups in the Indian labor market whose engagement in skilling is less explored. One is a freshly graduated candidate. As they start the job search, how do they consider skilling compared to other job factors? Do they view skills as currency? Our research tried to answer some of these.
Assessing jobs through a skills-based lens
In our research, our goal was to determine what makes a great job opportunity and leverage the results to create the best matches for firms and freshers. We used quantitative and qualitative techniques, including analyzing job posts, conducting surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with recruiters and freshers.
To understand how freshers assess jobs, we went to colleges — both government and private — in tier 1 cities. We conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with students who had a variety of backgrounds, degrees, and career goals. In multiple ways, students voiced the importance of gaining skills through their first job. Discussing the full range of job characteristics, many preferred on-the-job training and informal training opportunities over traditional benefits, such as paid leaves. They also communicated the importance of skilling through other preferences, such as working on a team and having a job with a variety of tasks. For these, we followed-up, asking “Why do you prefer to work on a team versus independently?” We expected students to reply that they enjoyed the social aspect of teamwork. Instead, they wanted to work with a mix of colleagues, both experienced and new, in order to learn from them. Similarly, many wanted jobs that involve a variety of tasks because it would allow them to “learn by doing” and thus develop multiple skills. Explaining why they valued opportunities to learn skills, one student summarized it best: “When you have skills, you can learn the details of any job.” They knew that skills were their currency.
How to attract motivated freshers
Based on these initial findings, our advice for recruiters is: highlight the skilling opportunities that the job has. Analyzing more than 1,000 job descriptions, we found that less than 5% noted that training is provided or that the fresher can gain skills through completing job tasks. Describing skilling opportunities on the job post does not require changing the job itself: most jobs do provide opportunities to gain skills, but it can be tough for freshers to recognize if they are not familiar with the employer. To illustrate, we reached out to 1,450 recruiters who posted jobs for freshers on apna, and from their responses, all jobs provide a form of on-the-job training, which can vary from several days to weeks. They also provide the chance for freshers to develop communication, organization, computer and leadership skills through the job tasks. By describing skilling opportunities on job posts, motivated freshers can find your vacancy. With the desire to upskill through their work, these freshers put forth the effort to do the job well, creating value for your firm. As freshers rise to the skills-based economy, they are not the only ones who can use skills as currency: firms can use the opportunity to gain skills as currency as well.
Lead Researcher:
Andelyn Russell
Ph.D. Candidate
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Apna Research Team
