Identifyingemployers’ perceptions of employability skills of graduates using a common framework of job classification-A study among HR Managers in Kerala

This paper discusses a comprehensive survey of employers ’perceptions of graduates of the state of Kerala towards assessing measurable qualities and skills that the employers think are mandatory for recruitment. For the purpose of this paper, entry level job roles across domains have been classified into four clusters considering the nature of the activity involved and associated skills with each cluster was arrived at. A job classification matrix based on interactivity and creativity was designed and used as a job classification framework for the purpose of the study. A total of 100 employers from the domains of IT/ITES, BPO, Software, Banking, Automotive, BFIS, FMCG, Education and Manufacturing sectors were chosen for the survey by using a set of questionnaires on five-point Likert scale, to rank indicated skills within job clusters to arrive at must have skills to enhance employment options. The study conducted during June-September 2018 also extends cues towards key insights and supplementary findings, which will help businesses formulate new HR policies and re-thinking the existing ones as to welcome the millennials into the workforce. It intends to be a generic guideline to the job seekers irrespective of domain to associate themselves and the jobs they aspire to; to perform a skill match, assess themselves for the competencies sought for by the employers and improve to surpass required levels in the desired profiles.