Importance of English in the Current Job Market

Importance of English in the Current Job Market The present paper seeks to analyze the current Job market scenarios and the importance of role of English in it and how IT is bridging the gap between the two. Out of the major job markets of the world, majority are from the countries where English is the main language or efforts are being made to make it one of the main language or efforts are being made to make it one of the main languages. It would not be wrong to say that English can be great GDP improving factor for a country in the current times. Now having been accepted universally by the doyens of industry the fact about the importance of English, the most logical question which comes to mind is the ease of use and the access to the stuff related to literature and language of the English. This is being facilitated by IT with its treasure of informational tools and portals. On one hand It is teaching and training people in English language and on the other hand giving the trained and skilled people access to the best of job ma rkets of the world which otherwise wouldnt be possible to find conventionally. The Economy of India is the eleventh largest in the world by nominal GDP[1] and the fourth largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) Following strong economic reforms from the post-independence socialist economy, the countrys economic growth progressed at a rapid pace, as free market principles were initiated in 1991 for international competition and foreign investment. Other studies underscore that the Indian recovery has probably been the fastest among world markets, and confidence levels have also risen in tandem. The quarterly Employment Outlook Survey by Manpower, a world leader in the area of workforce solutions, says that Indias hiring outlook is the most optimistic among the 36 countries and territories included in the report, which is for the April-June 2010 quarter. No doubt that the Indian economy has been treading an exceptional growth path since the last decade. Being the least hit of all economies, the Indian economy has really survived the storm of global financial crisis. Rating agencies like, Moodys, have stated that the strong performance is a resultant factor of renewed growth between India and China. According to a report by the Associated Chambers of Commerce Industry (Assocham), the Indian economy will create 87.37 million new jobs by 2015. The study was released in March by the secretary of the Planning Commission, which gave the projections an official seal of approval. According to Assochams survey, the most significant growth will come from the manufacturing sector, which will add 32% (27.88 million) of the new jobs. Trade will be next with 24.24 million jobs, following construction with 15.13 million. Tourism-related employment, information technology (IT) and IT-enabled services (ITeS), and financial services will also grow. Taking the leading indicators of India economy into consideration, it suggests that the India economy will definitely continue to improve in a steadfast pace. The ongoing interest rates, exchange rate, stock market index indicate that the economic conditions have been let loose for a considerable time period and should be managed in a manner that the business confidence index improves. The Indian economy has been propelled by the liberalization policies that have been instrumental in boosting demand as well as trade volume. The growth rate has averaged around 7% since 1997 and India was able to keep its economy growing at a healthy rate even during the 2007-2009 recession, managing a 5.355% rate in 2009 (India GDP Growth). The biggest boon to the economy has come in the shape of outsourcing. Its English speaking population has been instrumental in making India a preferred destination for information technology products as well as business process outsourcing. Globalization in India has allowed companies to increase their base of operations, expand their workforce with minimal investments, and provide new services to a broad range of consumers. One of the major forces of globalization in India has been in the growth of outsourced IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. The last few years have seen an increase in the number of skilled professionals in India employed by both local and foreign companies to service customers in the US and Europe in particular. Taking advantage of Indias lower cost but educated and English-speaking work force, and utilizing global communications technologies such as voice-over IP (VOIP), email and the internet, international enterprises have been able to lower their cost base by establishing outsourced knowledge-worker operations in India. However, the service sector is greatly expanding and has started to assume an increasingly important role. The fact that the Indian speaking population in India is growing by the day means that India has become a hub of outsourcing activities for some of the major economies of the world including the United Kingdom and the United States. Outsourcing to India has been primarily in the areas of technical support and customer services. India is a vast country with different languages in different parts of the country. These regional languages differ from each other so much that it is not possible to communicate with people of other regions without a common language. Further, India is growing on all fronts whether it is social or economic angle. India is on the road to become a strong and prosperous nation in the world. India is trying to maintain a good foreign policy. For all this, there is need of a common language i.e., English. It is this language which is understood almost all over the region in addition to national language of Hindi, all schools and colleges teach English and mostly have it as a medium of instruction. In todays world, we have to get knowledge of advanced technologies and all kinds of branches of Science. There is an urgent need of such a common language which can be understood by youth all over India and the language in which all data and information is available. It is English only which can be rightly selected as the language to be studied by all of us from the very primary level. This language is a store house of social and political knowledge. Hence, study of English language is of great importance for a developing country like India. Without knowledge of this language, our technicians, mechanics and engineers cannot progress. Today, USA and other countries have made tremendous progress in the field of science and technology. In space technology, we are no match to them. The world is making progress in these fields at a terrific speed. To increase and encourage more research work in Science and Technology, we have to study all these subjects in detail. And for this the importance of English cannot be denied. Our own regional languages do not have the depth and capacity to understand and co relate all these technological developments and as such, cannot served the purpose to keep pace with the fast growing world outside. Most of the best books on all such subjects are available in English language only. We cannot translate it all in our own regional languages, therefore, knowledge of English can only prove to be a blessing. Some subject like Science, Mathematics and technology books must be taught in English only. This fact is being realized now by those who had opposed teaching in English few years ago. They now know that we have not been able to prosper like other countries of the world due to keeping ourselves away from English. It is this language which can uplift us not only within our own country but throughout the world. We will be no less than anybody in the world with knowledge of English. English in India is a legacy from the British who colonized the country and their language permeated through some of the most important parts of society: the government, the media, the education system, the legal system, and gradually the social sphere as well. India is a vast nation and in terms of number of English speakers, it ranks third in the world after USA and the UK. An estimated 4 percent of the population use English and even though this may seem like a small number that is about 40 million people. This small segment of the population controls domains that have professional and social prestige. It is certainly considered instrumental in terms of having access to information from all over the world and as a key factor for professional success, but it is also very much a part of the educated middle and upper class persons life especially of the youth in India. The Education System: In higher education English is the premier prestige language. Careers in any area of business or commerce, or within the government, or in science and technology require fluency in English. It is taught in schools ranging from the most elite private schools to small government schools because only this language is an acceptable medium of communication through the nation. A 2008 report by software lobby group Nasscom, have shown only 10-15% graduates are employable in business services and only 26% engineers in technical services due to educational deficiencies. English in India has, indeed, come far from its original uses in the colonial times when it was mostly used as the language of the government. Nowadays, English has spread into many new domains, also the more personal ones, such as the family and friendship. English has, also, acquired new functions, including the self-expressive or innovative function. Today, in fact, it is hard, almost impossible to think of English as it is used in India only simply as another foreign language. In the domains of education, government and employment English shows itself, without doubt, as the most preferred medium. The Future of English in India The language has already been well established in the country and has acquired its own independent identity. With the number of foreign investors flocking to India and the growth of outsourcing, English has come to play a key role in professional relationships between foreign and Indian companies. Familiarity with the differences between American and British English has definitely grown as much business communication is carried out according to the language style with which a client is comfortable. Now we go back and examine what would have happened had Hindi been the national languages, and with English sidelined. Many foreign companies would have come to India even if it was a Hindian nation, but in the absence of a sound knowledge of English, India would have been just been a trade hub, not something where development would take place. Indian companies would not have been able to export as much. India would not have become a development centre for the other nations. We would NOT have been recognised as a nation with huge, economic and quality human resource.We would not have been able to interact much with the world outside. IT companies, telecommunication companies, and other companies would not have decided to come to India. We would not have had Indian companies in these fields make their global footprint. Even now there are many countries which offer much cheaper labour than India, but the reason India became a outsourcing hub was because India managed to strike a very g ood balance between cost and quality. In fact this is very similar to what globalisation is currently doing in Africa. Given the current lack of exposure for technology in India, the lack of English knowledge would have only made it worse. The Indian education system places strong emphasis on mathematics and science, resulting in a large number of science and engineering graduates. Mastery over quantitative concepts coupled with English proficiency has resulted in a skill set that has enabled India to reap the benefits of the current international demand for IT. India is capitalizing on its large numbers of well-educated people skilled in the English language to become a major exporter of software services and software workers, As the economy expands, Indias job recruitment market is also expected to grow in line and double at Rs 2,000 crore in the next five years, a top industry official said. The growth in Indias economy has helped bring about a tremendous growth in the manufacturing, banking and services sectors in the country. The job recruitment market here is set to grow at 20 per cent per annum and touch the Rs 2,000 crore mark in five years from the present Rs 1,000 crore, Esource Indias Managing Director Nitin Deveshwar told PTI here. To improve the job quotient for the jobseekers in the burgeoning economy, they need to keep themselves abreast with the latest trends in the dynamic market.This gap is shortened by the various mode of teaching is also taught through internet enabled websites.There are various web sites which can enhance the skill sets of the potential job seekers to the required level. Now as the English is the default language of the majority of web users, it also takes the usage of English to the new level thereby developing a typical web-enabled Glossary and lingo.It has also been observed that writing e-mails and in various social networking sites where people pour out their feelings ,improves their English writing capabilities. There have been various prestigious Government sponsored projects going on to improve the skill-sets of the teachers in Indian universities and its affiliated colleges. And one among them is National Mission on Education through ICT sponsored by MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource and Development).This pilot project has been started primarily to impart the best teaching practices of the premier Indian Institutes like IITs to their counterparts of not so famous and prominent colleges and universities of the country.The author has had the privilege to attend couple of workshops taught by one the best IIT Professors through ICT (Information and Communication Technology).As these workshops are attended by the teachers from length and breadth of the country, it is natural that the mode of communication is in English. When these best practices are taught to the students , it improves the skills and makes them more marketable in the growing job market. There are various job portals where after the completion of the required education, the job seekers can apply to find suitable jobs. E-recruiting remains as an important tool linking recruiters and employers with potential employees; however, e-recruitings role in the big picture is evolving.E-recruiting plays an important role in linking recruiters and employers with candidates they otherwise wouldnt have known existed. There are plenty of online job sites. One should focus on the sites that are related to ones profile and interests in order to optimize the job search efforts. Various online job sites are Naukri.com, timesjobs.com, monsterindia.com, jobsahead.com etc. a first good step in a career search is to apply for a job through search firms and online job sites. Increasingly, companies rely upon these and other online job resource databases and search firms to advertise opportunities and to solicit available labor resources. Many companies have up-to-date websites where a job applicant can contact the companys human resource department and search the job opportunities listed. Contacting the human resource department by email is also an acceptable way to inquire about a position. A typical job portal has broadly following parts: S.No. Name Description 1. Employer Login Employers can advertise their jobs, can peruse the already uploaded resumes of various candidates. Besides this the employers can also put advertisements about their organizations on these portals. 2. User login Prospective job seekers can upload their resumes under their own login id and passwords and can update it at the required times. 3. Search of Jobs by Company Name Jobs can be searched by company name. 4. Search of Jobs by Location Jobs can be searched by the location (City-wise) 5. Search of Jobs by Category Jobs can be searched by category-wise e.g- Automobile, Software, Pharma etc. 6. International Jobs Jobs can also be searched Country-wise 7. Resume services Helps the prospective job seekers in the development of resume. 8. Jobs on SMS Job that matches the detailed profile and preferences already mentioned in the profile. This is a free service provided by many portals. The user has only to sms a number through his mobile and he gets back the matching job to his skills.