Some Job Seekers lack employability skills, says BPO service providers

Hey ya'll hope you're doing well! This blog topic is not to put the blame on anyone or downplay the importance of higher education, that's not what this article is about. It's all about self improvement, yuh zeet! At a recent interview with The Jamaica Observer's newspaper journalists, Dr. Henry, manager of UWI's Career and Placement department noted that many students, even university graduates need to work on their 'soft skills'. She says that academic knowledge is good but students should not leave out developing 'employability skills'. But hold up....you may ask, "what are soft skills?" 

*Soft skills are personal attributes that enable a person to interact effectively and harmoniously with other persons. Your personality traits will determine the type of soft skills you have. For example, are you a person that loves everything in place and in the right order? You may have great organizational skills! So what were the soft skills Dr. Henry was referring to? She mentioned:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Communications skills
• Demonstrating commitment and dedication to a goal.

Executive Director of Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE), Alicia Glasgow-Gentles agrees with her. She remarked that some employers have expressed frustration that a number of graduates lack employment skills. She says: 

"The BPO (business process outsourcing) industry is a burgeoning one, where thousands of jobs are anticipated over the next couple of years. And the BPO service providers are complaining that they are getting applications from university level graduates [but] a lot of them are lacking employment skills which translate to work readiness. These young people are graduating from school and do not know the skills that are required to be work ready.” 

As a result, Glasgow-Gentles said the New Employment Opportunities project (organised by YUTE), a regional initiative dedicated to improving the quality of the workforce and the employability of poor and vulnerable youth in Latin America and the Caribbean, is being used to correct this.

The project is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank. The Jamaican arm is being executed by YUTE and aims to increase job opportunities for 10,000 youth, ages 17 to 29.

“We are providing employability skills through a programme we call the passport to success. It’s a programme that was developed by the International Youth Foundation and has been implemented in over 80 countries worldwide which, in essence, provides a curriculum that allows people to get ready for work,” Glasgow-Gentles said.  

“So you may have the technical skills, you may have the vocational skills, you may have the educational skills, but if you are lacking in social and life skills employers are not going to take you on,” she warned.



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References: 
*Soft skills definition: Google search
Jamaica Observer: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Some-tertiary-graduates-lacking--soft-skills--for-employment_90187