One surefire way to impress a potential employer is having an MBA degree on your resume. It will definitely make a solid image on the employer who knows you have the great idea or product, which will help to get the job done. However, its your first day on job and your employer feels you are not the right candidate. Now, without wasting anymore time you have to search for the next new job once again.

Day in and day out, employers are looking out for fresh graduates from colleges across the nations. Recruiters are ready to pay lucrative packages that may woo any candidate to jump for that one offer. With such attractive pay packages, the expectation of employers from their employees increases. Big or small, companies today are craving for candidates who can get the job done right from the first day itself. They are in need for efficient manpower with potential practical knowledge to share!

There are thousands of business schools world over imparting knowledge and guidance to the students. They are grooming candidates to get entry to the world of business. But, the question that strike to the mind is: Are these business schools offering or meeting the needs of the industry? Is the university's intellectual architecture insubstantial for an MBA graduate to land up with a job they want? Are these universities preparing and training candidates to start the job efficiently from the first day itself? What is the reason for dearth of knowledge when business schools are multiplying every other day?

Industry standards

Today, the recruiters desire traits from an MBA graduate. They are not looking for a 'Superman or Superwoman' but they seek out for an individual having knowledge, skills and abilities to perform on job. Employers are seeking out for professionalism, initiative, motivation, integrity, and the ability to deal with deadlines, pressures and unexpected obstacles. And, when it comes to the work experience, many companies will not even compromise a single bit of it. Four out of ten companies want their new MBA hires to have a stamp of three to four years of experience. In such cases, it becomes a challenge for these fresh MBA graduates to cope up with such stringent industry standards when they are just out of college and hunting for their first job.

Lack of practical knowledge

Although reports suggest that there will be increase in hiring of fresh MBA graduates this year but due to lack of proper guidance and average faculty is continuously hampering growth of various candidates pursuing MBA or equivalent programs. According to this report, almost 76 percent of employers expect to hire MBA graduates in 2013, which is up from 69 percent last year.

May be, this percentage increases year-after-year. In fact, the percentage should rise as there is a need for employment generation in the country. India needs a strong and efficient manpower. Do we have that kind of skilled workforce is a big question?

With the increase in the demand of workforce or employment, there is an urgent need for developing skills among people. And, this can only be done through proper training and incubation whether it is given by the colleges, universities, government or industry. This is one of major bottlenecks India is facing today and it is significant for both industry and government to come up together to address such issues.

For freshers who have completed their MBA course, it would have been an opportunity for them to get industry training during his academic coaching. This would have made them more productive during the time when they are working practically on job. Most colleges today do not have access to research, quality of faculty is poor and their linkages with business and industry is also lagging far behind.

In accordance to the reports, almost two-third of the MBA graduates are struggling to find meaningful employment these days. Few are looking out for the right kind of pay package and are spending their time expecting the same.

In fact, a regular MBA course spending goes anything between Rs 5-9 lakh, which becomes a major challenge for students if they have taken loans to fulfill their MBA dream, the report finds out.

The issue is once these young employees complete their MBA course, the job opportunity is limited. Report also said that the starting salaries of a MBA hire ranges between Rs 3-4 lakh only.

Industry body Assocham recently released a paper on 'b-schools and Engineering colleges shut down-- Big Business Struggles', they pointed out that currently only 10 percent of India's MBA graduates are employable. In fact, the regular recruitment by many firms from the campus has gone down by 40 percent in the year 2012.

This is mainly because several corporates are reducing their training budgets due to their cost-cutting policy. In fact, the slowdown in the global economy is another reason why such big corporates are looking for trimming down their expenses. They want now people who can deliver from Day One. The employers want people with potential experience and this is a big challenge infront of them.

Choose the path right

India, today is a booming MBA market with over 3,500 B-schools and 5,00,000 students pursuing various MBA or equivalent programs. Some critics suggest that the b-schools should come together to mitigate the challenges the industry is facing in terms of getting right manpower. The b-schools need to integrate ethics, social responsibility and risk management into their curriculum, which is the need of the hour. Many b-schools train generations of executives focusing solely on maximizing profit with a firm belief that this will only preclude a crisis.

Debates have erupted and potential arguments have been taken place time and again regarding the role of business school in grooming candidates for their first job.  In fact, many b-schools are trying to come up with strategies that can boost growth of individual. Leaders from across the nations who have MBA degree from the world's top b-schools also feel that there is a need for responsible education and development in the business school curriculum.

But, certain questions and their answers are yet to be explained.

Is the curriculum adequately preparing MBA students to face the right questions related to the business practices? Are the professors responsible enough with their actions? Are the b-schools preparing candidates for the next best job? These questions have to be answered and should be worked out efficiently. It will be quite encouraging for all of us to see that the b-schools are updating their curriculum to prepare students better for all the ethical questions they may be forced to answer in the decades to come.

Implement best learning practices

By setting up innovative strategies will surely help students to compete in a tough market conditions. Colleges should look forward now to introduce new courses, update the existing ones and set up some out-of-the-classroon model that can make learning more relevant and competitive for the students and the market. It is suggested by experts that as legal issues are seldom covered in the curriculum of the business schools, this can be included from now onwards, which can be a way to understand the legal issues or hassle a business person may face in the corporate world.

It is encouraging to see that most of the top b-schools have already made the necessary changes in their curriculum. For instance, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai has mandated the course 'Environment Management' for all its students whereas Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Bhubaneshwar has taken the same path with introducing a course on 'Environment and Sustainability'.

Similarly, XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur has the course on 'Sustainable Development Of Corporate Strategy' to emphasize on the environmental impact of corporate strategies. Also, b-school like KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research (SIMSR), Mumbai has made a new course 'Environmentally-conscious Manufacturing' mandatory for their students.

These are few examples where b-schools all over the country have made necessary changes in their curriculum to train students with the best practices and impart knowledge that can help them to overcome the pitfalls of tomorrow. Areas such as ethics, analytics, leadership, self-evaluation and soft skills like oral and written communication should be considered during the training process and plus MBA students should be facilitated with regular feedback on their accomplishments.

Every year, B-schools introduce incremental additions and changes in their curriculum to attract students based on feedback from the students, faculty, alumni and the industry. There should be an increase focus given on ethics, environmental sustainability and new emerging sectors.

B-schools need to increase their focus and divert the mode of learning according to the industry's needs. They should deliver talent for the industry. They should groom talent that can perform for the industry. They should introduce new courses or update existing ones to be more industry friendly, which is the order of the day. If such things are prepared and modified in a regular and effective way then surely the industry will hire more raw talents from these b-schools as they will be able to deliver results to the industry from Day One of their job. 

(Namrata Kath Hazarika can be contacted at namratakh@tradeindia.com)