Attitude, entrepreneurial spirit game changers in job market

With new digital technologies impacting life and business, youth should not stop with skilling or re-skilling, said K Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture, while addressing a conclave at Rajalakshmi Engineering College (Autonomous), Thandalam, to commemorate the institution’s 20 years of academic excellence. 

Emphasising on entrepreneurship and attitude, he said that it is important for students to look at their career differently. 

Themed ‘How to gain from India’s demographic dividend: The Way Forward’, the conclave focussed on the importance of having powerful ideas and implementing them. “Organised jobs in the industry sectors are coming down due to the rise of technologies such as social, mobile, analytics, cloud computing and the Internet of Things (IoT). 

Many traditional jobs are getting automated or replaced by machines, but a study by the London School of Business showed that huge job opportunities are being created in creative and cultural arts,” he said. Stating that recruiters of companies these days look at a student’s attitude and the spirit of entrepreneurship for hiring, he said, “Ideas have become the most valuable input for businesses today. Venture capitalists are today changing their outlook and are prepared to invest in the right ideas in the right business models.” 

G K Vasan, former Union Minister for Shipping, while inaugurating REC Tech Lounge – a large computing facility, along with Pandiarajan, said, “It is important that besides offering a degree or a certificate of knowledge accomplishments, colleges provide a set of skills that young people need, to get into jobs, for higher education, for becoming entrepreneurs, or to become teachers.” He further said, “Education today is no longer confined to books. 

Today education is about enquiry, it is about finding acceptable answers. It is about conflict resolution. It is about taking people’s mind to a higher plane through a process of study, research, enquiry, values and attitudes.” Also present at the event were T Manikandan, Director (Engineering), Amazon Development Centre India and Thangam Meganathan, Chairperson, Rajalakshmi Institutions and others.