What do employers want from fresh graduates?

The transition from one's formal education to the first job can be daunting. Quality universities help prepare students for this transition period through rigorous internship programmes, career fairs and career counselling. Others, however, do not.

Candidates almost always fail to impress the employers unless they have a comprehensive work history. Therefore, even CV writing is an area that needs substantial attention. Job posting websites, which allow their users to create automated CVs using pre-structured templates, are to blame for their utter indifference to the importance of creating a meticulous CV.

Some, for example, put down language skills related to “Arabic and Hindi” in their CV despite not having a passable skill to be used professionally. Most applicants list hobbies like “cricket” or “listening to music” in their CV. Most CVs contain basic grammatical errors. All these seriously hamper their chances.

A few select public universities, such as IBA of Dhaka University or BUET, and private universities such as North South University or Brac University properly equip their students to some extent, but a vast majority of students are left with a “cut & paste” syndrome. In many cases, most students do not go through apprenticeship, which would have helped them bridge the gap.

Instead of trying to overcome their shortcomings, many students only rely on references and lobbying. We can only hope that our educational system innovates itself in order to help students cope with demands of the time.

Ashikul Hoque, From Facebook Page