Taking Admission In Colleges Isn’t Enough Anymore, Indian Students Are Now ‘Upskilling’!

So board exams are over, results are out, and like every other annoying relative, I arrived at my nephew’s place to see how were things going for him. Thankfully, he didn’t curse me in his mind because as it turned out, he scored quite well and it was time for celebrations! He also had a friend over and the three of us hung out for some time. However, there was something in their conversations that caught my attention.

When I was of their age, my friends and I couldn’t stop talking about how much we’d be ‘chilling’ in college. But these two were talking about ‘upskilling’ themselves. Yes, I hadn’t heard that word before too. Wanting to know what it meant, I straight up asked them.

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Apparently, ‘upskilling’ means to upgrade your skill-set. So I thought maybe they wanted to learn how to play the guitar or learn a new language. But the two kids were clearly trying to emphasize something else. The nephew mentioned how he was taking a course on Data Analytics, and his friend on Digital Marketing. Here’s how the conversation went:

“Why do you need to learn Data Analysis when you just started applying to colleges?, I asked.
“So that I can qualify for good internships and later, bag my dream job!”, he said.
“But isn’t a college degree enough?”, by this time I could feel the generation gap!
“With so much competition? Nope. We need to stay ahead of the curve”, said the friend and the two smirked, making me feel quite stupid.

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After a fun-filled afternoon, it was time for their NIIT classes – just like when we had tuitions! However, I couldn’t stop thinking about our earlier conversation and being the inquisitive girl that I am, decided to drop them to their institute. When we reached, the two headed inside and I was surprised to see a bunch of others, 17-20 year-olds, head inside as well.

“These kids do take this thing seriously”, I thought.

Later that evening, I visited the coaching centre’s official website to see what these kids were actually trying to learn. A few articles later, I had a light-bulb moment!

I had come to learn that instead of focusing entirely on attaining a college degree, kids these days focus on learning new skills. These skills are things like Web Application Development, Digital Marketing, Programming in Python, Programming in R, Accounting with Tally, Email Marketing etc. which seems like are now the real deal. What I understand is if one has any of these skills and more, chances are he/she will land up their dream job!

Without a doubt, the younger generation today is EXTREMELY smart. To think about it, the education system doesn’t evolve quick enough to match the latest job trends. Companies, nowadays, look for people who are skilled instead of those with good grades. These kids have cracked this and are now working towards learning what really matters to ready themselves for the corporate world. They are the new #FutureReadyTalent!

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#LearnWhatMatters – sounds like a pretty intelligent and impressive thing to do, isn’t it?

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