Addressing the skill gap for freshers in IT

By Vimal Daga

We see that there are many different facets and factors with challenges associated with the skill gap for Freshers in the IT industry, just like we do in a product-based company that is always focused on innovations and newness and always looks at what can be offered next to make the world better.

In other words, the technology industry is always evolving, the technology industry moves from current to next always, that is what we call “evolution”. In light of the constant changes in the industry as well as the fierce competition in the industry, employers are emphasizing the need for a skilled workforce, whether they are freshers or experienced professionals, with the latest technical skills according to new-age technologies.

There are new positions being created in fields such as data scientists, machine learning experts, predictive analytics experts, algorithm specialists, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data analytics, software development, computing, and artificial intelligence. In contrast to experienced workers who upgrade their skills and reskill, freshers have difficulty finding lucrative jobs due to a lack of the right direction towards updating their skills, which is constraining the supply of jobs.

Another trend that is sweeping the market right now is the adoption of new technologies, and the adoption is most definitely due to the growing need to solve next-level and complex problems internally. These are significant factors why freshers always face obstacles and challenges in getting desired jobs instead of support-like job profiles. We term expected jobs the “Core Profile Jobs” that many people aspire for.

The question is, what will solve this? To date, I have done tons of research and analysis to determine that people are not aware of the right direction. Almost everything is virtually available on the Internet, but what are the most valuable skills to go for? Transparency is crucial here, and it’s just not between freshers and IT that there’s a gap between them. A gap always exists between something which is called the “Foundation”, as a student, most freshers face difficulties because they do not have the right mentors.

The best way to overcome this gap and break the barrier, in my opinion, is to learn the new-age technologies and acquire the updated skills with the right approach and get the right education from the right mentor. When it comes to students, they should always possess the mindset to solve problems in the real world before writing a single line or piece of code. It’s all about having the right guidance versus just education without actual scope and direction. “Education and skill should be Right, & Right for Everyone”. And, in this context, education is not just about technology, it is also about emotions. With this article, I emphasize the importance of using emotions in addition to technology. Therefore, the “skills” gap for freshers is the lack of emotional attachment to the technologies they’re learning due to a lack of proper guidance. 

My advice would be to think like a researcher at all times. Make sure you research what technologies you’re learning before you use them for a specific purpose. Always try to understand how everything works behind in addition to learning the basics. Stay updated with the latest technologies and technological evolutions, breakthroughs, and revolutions. A fresher can become an expert and can adopt every existing, new, upcoming technology, and can solve many technological and market-based use cases. And, to solve such industry use cases, one always needs the right mindset, a vision to be served by great engineering. To engineer something great, one should always visualize the surrounding problems, so that you’ll have a clear perspective and vision. It is what makes a person future-ready and eligible to work with the top leaders in the IT companies as it is exactly the same approach every creator, every entrepreneur, every revolutionary person follows. As I always say, “No technology is complex since it was created by humans. Hence, anyone can learn it and create something new.”

Last, but not least, we should always focus on solving real-life problems with the use of technologies, especially when it comes to adopting new technologies that are available or will be available in the future. It is easier to address the skills gap if one receives the proper orientation, right direction, education from the right mentor who can help the individual understand the current IT industry environment and requirements, as well as what skills are really necessary to solve many problems worldwide. A person with the right approach is able to understand how their employer thinks and sync with their employer to shift from current to next. A skill gap will not exist if you can sync well with the creator’s mindset.

(The author is a technologist and technology motivational speaker. Views expressed are personal and not that of FinancialExpress.com)