By Dibesh Dangol
“School ra college janu, ramrari padhnu, dherai marks lyaera degree paunu, dherai kamaune kaam paunu ani ananda le jiwan bitaunu”... loosely translated means: Attend school and college, study well, get good grades and a degree, land a good salaried job and live happily. This an age old blessing that most elders give to the younger generations.
But is choosing the right college or having a degree still important to get a good job in today’s context? Does the competitive job market only look for hard skills? Is textbook knowledge the answer?
To have all these questions answered, we talked with a few college representatives: Jitendra Kumar Manandhar, Assistant Campus Chief (Academic) of Pulchowk Campus; Sujan Chitrakar, Academic Program Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Kathmandu University School of Arts (Center for Art and Design); Arvind Shakya, Associate Program Manager of Presidential Business School (PBS);Ramesh Kumar Chauhan, Director of Undergraduate School of Ace Institute of Management; Surya Devi Bajracharya, Head of Department (B.Sc. Nursing Program) of Nobel College and Sabitri Maharjan, Managing Director and Principal of Academy of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management.
A degree can be the base
Obtaining a degree can be perceived as a base for what you want to pursue in your professional career. If you ask friends, family and relatives or conduct a random survey on social media networks, a majority of people have hard luck finding jobs according to their degree and preference. “Having a degree to get a higher level job is important. But, obtaining other skills like leadership, management, research and analysis is what will boost your evaluation,” states Chauhan. To that Bajracharya adds, “Although it is a tough market, one thing the students should be aware of is that graduates have been enjoying the finest jobs in the market.” The importance of degree is underlined by Chitrakar, who says, “Graduates with not just a degree but also with workplace skills are superior prospects to get quality employment. Likewise, majority of jobs do require a degree and the person who wants to apply has to build the qualification needed.”
Develop workplace skills practically than just theoretically
It is an important factor to develop workplace skills like communication, research, analysis, management and leadership. But learning it theoretically is just not enough. Students should have practical knowledge and experience of how and where such skills can be used. Since the fabric of the job market is ever changing, it is possible to build skills needed to get to your career even while pursuing your academic interests.
Undergraduates aiming to have great career success must have strong communication skill and the ability to express their views clearly to both their supervisors, colleagues and clients. It is also an important condition set in almost all job descriptions.
Likewise, research and analysis skills are required in jobs which are related to discovering and developing sources of improvement and critical thinking for the growth of a company. It is also important to have management and leadership skills to make a person stand out while applying for a job and for pursuing entrepreneurial goals.
Such skills can be obtained in the college itself while participating in various college projects, educational seminars or by enrolling for business and financial literacy programmes.
According to Chitrakar, KU Center for Art and Design aims is to give careful systematic training in art skills, at the same time, gradually allowing students more freedom in order to explore or experiment and develop their creativity.
Stressing on PBS’s approach, Shakya states, “We are affiliated to Westcliff University, USA and provide the American education system in Nepal itself. We work on Knowledge, Skills and Attitude (KSA) model and therefore do not just believe in being a knowledge-sharing platform but provide holistic approach in developing the right skills and attitude to be a competent person.”
The base on which Nobel College is able to produce competent professional nurses in different specialties of nursing services like preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, according to Bajracharya, is the college’s focus on critical analysis, decision making, scientific nursing research and leadership management.
Likewise, ACAHM carries a single goal, “be skilled, and be employed”. States Maharjan, “Our main vision is to give top-notch education and expertise to students who desire to work in the field of hospitality. We ensure that the student acquires necessary skills and passes exams. We are also associated with Bright Star recruitment agency which has a status of placing hundreds of students in the hospitality industry globally.”
Chauhan underlines that the faculty of Ace is their biggest asset which provides them an edge over other business schools. Their faculties include renowned academics and also industry leaders and experts, with years of national and international professional experience.
“IOE offers practical and high technical skills to students which means more than preparing them for a career. The institution strives to produce brains who can contribute to the growth of Nepal,” emphasises Manandhar.
Go beyond the classroom
Research shows that students involved in extracurricular activities are more likely to have better opportunities at getting higher level jobs. “At PBS, we run a quarterly program called “The Breakers” with different themes per episode which aims to break the traditional and stereotypical thoughts in bringing positive changes in the society. Besides ECA, under the Department of Continuing Education (DCE – Student Center) we also offer programs such as Writing and Public Speaking Skills, Soft Skills for the Corporate World, Business Project Management, Job-Specific skills (facing an interview, writing first-class CVs/resumes, etc.), Industry Specific Training (IST) accompanied by engaging workshops,” explains Shakya.
“The Center for Energy Studies (CES) conducts research in energy sources and other similar projects. The Robotics Club is noteworthy. A robot made by this club had participated in NHK Robocon 2001, Koriyama, Japan and ABU Robocon 2018, NinhBinh, Vietnam. Similarly, Locus comes with creative ideas every year to provide a platform for students to excel and demonstrate their hardware skills, software skills, and skills for logical reasoning,” briefs Manandhar.
Ace also has a host of activities to engross students. Chauhan comments, “Some of the skill development programmes we organise are school finishing program, student initiated learning and development activities like Spectrum and The Ardent which are national level management fests, Inter-College Business Case Analysis Competition, participation in international management fests and others.”
“To provide practical exposure, we organise International Food Tasting annually during which students will have live interaction with guests in different departments of hospitality management. The event is hosted for 14 consecutive Saturdays at the college itself,” says Maharjan.
But does a degree matter?
Hard skills certainly matter. However the spotlight is snatched by soft skills like critical thinking, communication, problem solving skills which are regarded as skills of the future and are considered to be more important than technical knowledge studied in undergrad.
“Networking is another important skill that can smoothen up your professional career. Students can build good networks from their undergrad level itself by having good relationship with their lecturers, participating in internships and voluntary activities, and also by getting involved in network building activities whenever offered by the college,” shares Chitrakar.
But if a student wants to choose alternative career paths than what they pursued in their undergraduate degree, it is possible for them to take alteration courses and specialise before pursuing a job in a particular sector. Such has been done and is in trend mainly in the field of teaching and management.
Bajracharya states, “Yes, though there is an open market right now, one needs to persevere for their degree and acquire good grades since an undergraduate or a post-graduate degree is considered to be a requirement in any job vacancy. But apart from just acquiring theoretical knowledge, students need to make sure that they are also involved beyond their classroom and apply for internships or voluntary activities that knock on their door just to gain work experiences and be prepared for the future.”
