Karnataka claims to have gone far ahead of other states when it came to using job fairs and helping job-seekers find jobs. It is part of the Centre’s efforts to promote job creation through the development of skills and promoting employment.
The state has held eight job fairs as part of the programme. It has held job fairs in Bangalore, Hubli, Gulbarga, Mangalore, Mysore among other cities.
The state has created a special purpose vehicle, Karnataka Vocational Training and Skill Development Corporation (KVTSDC), with the objective to create employable skilled manpower, headed by an executive director. Till now, 695 employers have taken part and 129,000 job seekers have registered. This is a platform for employers and job-seekers.
Candidates who have enrolled have to appear for a 45-minute test, later directly meet the employers who have set up their stall at the fair. The employers too assess the candidates and issue appointment orders to the selected candidates. The test results and the employer’s assessment will be matched to assess the skills of the candidates. This helps identify the interests, abilities and personalities of the candidates and suggest to them a career that suits them.
If a candidate is found lacking a skill which holds him from getting recruited, then he/she is sent in for the requisite training. Karnataka has roped in
23 partners from different sectors for implementing the project. Some of them help assess and some others also assess and also help fill the skill gaps through training.
Under the scheme, the Centre provides Rs 15 per hour per candidate for training. And, on an average a candidate undergoes 150 hours of training. The average cost for training a candidate comes to about Rs 4,000, said Vishnukant S Chatpalli, executive director, KVTSDC.
Adecco, one of the 23 partners in the efforts, “in partnership with the KVTSDC is performing three activities — assess, prepare and deploy,” said Sudhakar Balakrishnan, CEO, Adecco India. Adecco claims it has trained 2,500 job seekers so far through this route.
Adecco has so far assessed 35,000 people at eight locations in the state. Adecco claims it is now in talks with more states to provide similar services. The firm is now in an advanced stage of talks with some three states to provide the services.
While assessing a candidate, if the candidate got 70 per cent in the assessment, then he/she would automatically be interviewed for a job. If the candidate got between 40 per cent and 70 per cent, then the candidate would be put through an end-to-end training. While the government bears the cost of training, Adecco is the training provider. After assessment, a candidate gets the National Council for Vocational Training certificate.
The state has set itself a target to create 1 million jobs over a period of four years. On the impact of the slowdown, added Chatpalli, “The global meltdown did not affect the bottom of the pyramid. It affected only the top of the pyramid.”
So, there was hardly any impact on the number of jobs being offered or the number of participants in the job fairs.”
