Employability of BE-MBA 2014 With a college degree barely being able to help you land a job, we ask the

pros what it really takes for students to improve their employability while still in college.

47 per cent graduates are NOT employable in any sector because they lacked English language and cognitive skills. More than 50 per cent graduates do not know how to perform simple functions like copy-pasting text nor are they able to differentiate between hardware and software. Not more than 25 per cent of the graduating students can apply concepts to solve a real-world problem in the domain of Finance and Accounting.

These are just some highlights from the National Employability Report
released by Aspiring Minds, one of India's leading employability solutions companies. According to the report, of the five million, six lakh are engineers, the one field that most parents want their children to be in. Even so, these graduates need anywhere between six to 12 months of training before they are made 'billable' to the client depending on what sector they are a part of, says Amit Bansal of PurpleLeap, an organisation that works with colleges to make students employment-ready "Companies have no option but to invest in training their staff in skills they should have picked up at the university in the first place." So if a degree doesn't necessarily land you a good job, how can students can improve their employability while still in college? Sarvesh Agarwal of Internshala.com, a prominent portal for internships across the country,Amit Bansal and Varun Aggarwal tell you just that. Polish your English language skills Varun Aggarwal:

English is one of the key parameters in any role in the knowledge economy and ass many as 47 per cent graduates lack even basic functional knowledge of the language. In our research, we have discovered that candidates with English skills garner 30 to 50 per cent higher salaries than similarly-qualified candidates without English language skills. You cannot write-off the importance of English and you certainly cannot wake up in your final year of graduation to its importance. The sooner you start learning the language, the better it will be for you. Sarvesh Agarwal agrees. He points out:

Of the 30,000 to 40,000 applications we receive each month, 70 to 75 per cent are abysmally written. There are grammatical errors, spelling mistakes; SMS-style language and an absolute disregard for a coherent sentence structure. By the time we have received these applications, the damage is done. The key is to start learning early. Develop your reading habits. Pick up a book; start with Chetan Bhagat but also move on to PG Wodehouse and Ayn Rand. Make it a habit to read a book a month. Simultaneously improve your writing skills. Just select a topic that interests you and write about it. Look for a group of like-minded people and engage in group discussions with them. Share your knowledge; that's the best way you can learn. What is it that interns should be doing and what is it they should absolutely avoid? Where should they draw the line? Is internship as crucial as they make it out to be?

As part of an ongoing series, we asked five young students about their learnings in their various internships and for their advice to their young colleagues. With internships becoming a norm, it is crucial to understand just what you can and cannot expect in an internship. Also in this series

10 things we wished interns knew How to convert your internship into a job

Today we asked five young students what their inexperienced peers can
expect from their first internship, what they must do to get that job and just why it is so important to start working while you're still in college. Nikhil Kumar Fourth year student of Nanotechnology Interned at:

(22)

Wipro Hockey India League WeChat Campus Diaries United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development

The only internship I did that was in the same line as my education was the
one at Wipro," Kumar says. "All the others were marketing and event management-related jobs. "This was a conscious choice because in today's times you cannot afford to restrict your career growth to a single field." His advice to young interns: Work on your weaknesses

Assess your strengths and weaknesses and take up internships in areas where you are weak. Build on your strengths too but focus on your weaknesses.

Let your internships be diverse:

Avoid restricting yourself to your area of specialisation. It will help you explore various options outside of your field. If you cannot explore possibilities now, when else will you explore?

Look for a start-up:

Start-ups give you a lot more freedom, their work culture isn't set in stone like the big companies. You will be more involved with the core of the project unlike anywhere else. Don't be stuck up Lower your expectations Focus on what you can learn from your stints at various organisations.

Internships are slowly but surely becoming a norm rather than an exception. As part of an ongoing series, we asked Rishabh Gupta, the CEO and Co-Founder of Letsintern.com, one of the most prominent job portals exclusively dealing with internships on things he wished interns knew.

Findings of a recent British Council research on the South Asia Paradox of

'high university enrolment, low graduate employment' recommended compulsory internships, among other things to resolve the much-talked about employability concerns in South Asia. Gone are the days when vacations in-between colleges meant only chilling out and hanging out with friends. As in many countries, summer internships are becoming a rule than an exception in India too. Keen on getting an early start, students are increasingly looking at internship opportunities in companies small and large. Rishabh Gupta is the CEO and Co-Founder of Letsintern.com, one of the most prominent job portals exclusively dealing with internships. On its website, Letsintern.com advertises over 18 lakh opportunities across 4,000-plus organisations including Tata, HCL, Adidas, Pepsico and the World Wildlife Federation among others. Gupta has this advice for young interns: 1. Don't be stuck up about what you want to do This holds true more so if it's your first internship.

Internships are supposed to help you explore possible career options. Be open to the kind of role you are offered. Be prepared to explore. Because if you can't be open-minded and willing to explore possibilities at the beginning of your career, when else can you be? All images used here are for representational purposes only Image: Don't think twice before doing whatever is thrown at you in your internship.