Bridging the gap between Campus and Career should be a priority for higher educational institutions

Dr Ajeenkya DY Patil, President of Ajeenkya DY Patil University

The pandemic has changed the dynamics within the job market in how companies recruit talent and the skills needed to succeed in the workforce. To help students prepare, adapt, and thrive in the modern workplace, Ajeenkya DY Patil University (ADYPU) in association with Utter ProSchool has launched ADYPU Utter ProSchool. The Proschool is starting with a 2-month Career Kickstarter Program aimed at preparing students for the jobs of their choice.

"Charles Darwin is credited with saying, ‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives but the most adaptable.' The current job market is digital-led and marked by uncertainties brought by the pandemic. It is indeed the most resilient of students that will truly survive and succeed," said Dr Ajeenkya DY Patil, President of Ajeenkya DY Patil University. "The Career Kickstarter Program we are launching today is designed keeping the new demands of the workplace in mind so we can best prepare and coach our students to be on top of, and ahead of the skills needed in their career of choice," he added.

According to research, out of the 26M graduates in the past 3 years, 68% of the graduates are unemployed and over 90% percent of them cannot speak English fluently. What is more surprising perhaps is that there are more than 1M job vacancies on portals like Naukri and Monster. Despite this, the unemployment rate of freshers and graduates is at an alarming 15% which is 3 times the national average.

"A lack of understanding of the job description and what the role demands are key pain points for young graduates. Students also find it difficult to articulate their skills to employers. They shy away from talking about their core competencies that set them apart from other candidates. All these stems from their misunderstanding of the job application process," said Ninad Vengurlekar, the founder and CEO, Utter Pro.

The 8-week intensive Career Kickstarter Program will help students identify and understand the jobs that are best suited to their experience and core competency. The program will further instil knowledge about the industry, improve fluency in verbal and written English and help with resume building, personality transformation and networking abilities. Students are also assigned a Placement coach who will counsel the student about their career and match their skills to the perfect job. Job applications are made seamless to ease out the process of interviews and post-placement paperwork.

"In today's digital landscape, job seekers are up against candidates from every part of the country and even globally. Students have to therefore differentiate themselves not only based on their qualifications but also their skills and ability to fit the cultural compatibility of the institution they are aiming to be a part of," said Hrridaysh Deshpande, Vice-Chancellor of ADYPU.

Utter ProSchool has a record of training and placing 500+ students across India in industries like Business Development, Customer Services, Healthcare, Technology and many more. "Through this Career Kickstart Program, we aim to train and place 10,000 students, " said Vengurlekar.

Ajeenkya DY Patil University, has been established under Maharashtra Govt. Act III of 2015 of Government of Maharashtra and is recognized by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The University aims to contribute to the creation of Innovation oriented Indian society by focusing on academic excellence in teaching, research and quality of service. Our purpose is to help transform individuals into the thinkers, dreamers and innovators of tomorrow and we are proud to call ourselves an Innovation University. The University offers undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctorate-level education in the field of Technology, Management, Humanities, Design, Law, Hotel Management, Social Sciences, and Film & Media.

UtterPro is a blended learning platform in English. It is a combination of chatbots and live tutors and comes in B2C and B2B2C models.