It's a combined effort all the way. Much before young graduates step into the professional world out there, they increasingly being groomed that extra bit to help them bag a job. The work starts from the very basics of soft skills and revolves around the art of conducting oneself in public, in corporations and in teams. “This because experts in education system focus mostly on technical skills and building the complete package often takes a back seat,” says P Sindhuja of Infosys, who has come all the way from Bengaluru to host a program for teachers of various colleges of the region, to help them hone the overall skills of students. “Though, having only good scores was acceptable in a booming economy, but in times of slowdown the emphasis everywhere has shifted to making the students more employable. Now the companies want only the best,” chirps Sindhuja.

A fact that has been well-accepted by business houses as well. Sandeep Brar of Taurus Training Services Pvt Ltd, for starters has extended services in Chandigarh and Punjab. “The growing demand of colleges to groom the students had us start operations here,” he tells us that in the program they teach the students how to prepare a CV, face an interview or a group discussion and how to behave once inside the organisation, along with the art of dressing. Brar feels that the current batches are more than willing to pay and get the training, if need be. While Brar’s company at present is facilitating colleges in Punjab, AIESEC, a students organisation, is conducting activities that increase the confidence and the presentation skills of a student. “The slowdown demands that students work harder and here, we try and give them opportunities to interact with corporates even before they graduate,” Sahil Dewan and Akriti of AIESEC, tell us, as Yuliya, Vice President, Talent management, an intern from Ukraine, chips in, “Corporates demand hands-on experience in areas like human resources, external relations, communication, informational management amongst others, and that’s what we are aiming our programs at.”