JMI’s week-long ‘Online Summer School on Job Readiness’ to improve employability of students begins

A week-long “Online Summer School on Job Readiness” organised by the University Placement Cell , Jamia Millia Islamia(JMI) started yesterday. It will continue till July 24, 2020 to better prepare students for upcoming job opportunities in the shrinking job market due to COVID-19.
Mr. Anees Khan, Global Business Head, WIPRO Ltd., United Kingdom (UK) was the Chief
Guest in the inaugural session and connected with participants from London, UK.
In his inaugural address Mr. Khan delivered a very informative and useful lecture “Future skills required in changing scenario of the Global Economy”.
Mr. Khan highlighted the skill sets required considering the changing situation of business and job market due to COVID-19.
He emphasised the importance of Data Literacy for any individual and organisation. He termed it as a fuel for 4th industrial revolution and to make data valuable, organisations must employ individuals who have data literacy and skills to turn data into business value.
Since digital tools will be a common place in 4th industrial revolution it will impact every industry. Artificial intelligence, internet of things, virtual and augmented reality technology, robotics, block chain will become a part of every worker’s everyday experience, he said.
Mr. Khan also said that tech savviness has also become important across personal, professional or any industry. Technical skills will be required by employees doing just about every job whether the work place is factory or a law firm. People need to be comfortable around these tools and they will need to develop skills to work with them. Awareness of these technologies and technical skills will be required for every job.
Machines cannot fully replace human in complex decision making. Machines might be able to analyse data at a speed that humans are incapable off but many decisions regarding to what to do with the information provided by the machines must still be made by humans. Humans have the ability to take the input from the data while considering how decisions can impact the broader community including effects of human sensibilities, he further said. Highlighting the importance of emotional intelligence he said that it is another area where humans have an edge over machine.
Mr Khan emphasised that we have to be adaptable and flexible as quickly as the world is changing. Openness to unlearning skills is also very important. Additionally people must be cognitively flexible to new ideas and new ways of doing things.
Regardless of how many machines work beside us, humans are still better at creativity. It is essential that creative humans are employed by organisations, he further added.
Prof. Najma Akhtar, Vice Chancellor, JMI presided over the inaugural session. She thanked Mr. Khan for his very insightful inaugural address and invited him to visit JMI when the situation normalises after COVID-19 pandemic. She congratulated the University Placement Cell, JMI for organising the online summer school.