Foreword from Academia

Change is not what you have become, but what you are becoming. It is not a position, but a process. It is not a temporary transition from one state to another. The idea of being has to be replaced by a notion of becoming. Globalization has brought in the need to succeed in a competitive environment and the transition to a knowledge economy. Given that the world is characterized by such dynamism, it is essential for a student, embarking on his career, to be prepared to face it, deal with its many dimensions and use it to his or her advantage.

Success of an individual in a career depends on a good match between skills taught (and learnt) and the skills needed. When outdated syllabi are taught without considering its to the skills needed, the employability of students suffers. There is also a dichotomy in the corelation between educational attainment and employability of people. While the level of educational attainment of the existing work force is very low, the educated but professionally unskilled group constitute 69% of the total unemployed. The unfortunate bottom line is that most students are not able to relate to what they are studying, and therefore, they are not ready for the challenges in their careers. Hence, it is essential to impart the right and most relevant skills to enable students to cope up with the dynamism and change, as alluded to before. And it is becoming increasingly obvious that these essential skills are actually soft skills.

From College to Career, the right book that has come out at the right time, focuses on this dynamism and prepares aspiring professionals for the twists and turns in their careers.

While the authors’ earlier book, The ACE of Soft Skills, was a very detailed treatise targeted at seasoned professionals, the current book From College to Career is specifically focused at college students ready to launch their careers and those who are at the beginning of their professional journey.

I found many of my own views – which has evolved over a long career of academics, research and policy making – to be in resonance with what the authors had to say. This resonance and convergence is not surprising. My friend, Dr. Mahadevan Ramesh, who is the co-author of this book, brings to life his vast and very relevant experience and credentials through this book. Coming from the haloed institutions of IIT, Kanpur and Carnegie Mellon University, and having a rich industry experience in top-notch companies in the US and Singapore and being a passionate teacher who has taught leading colleges, he is indeed someone who is among the most qualified people to write such a book. He deserves rich credit for taking this endeavor.

For the sake of brevity, I would like to list out just a few of these points of convergence.

• Soft skills are becoming a global currency for a globalizing world. Countries with these significant skills capital will have all kinds of advantages over other economies with a lower level of such skills.
• Soft skills start with a proper attitude at the core. Communication is a very essential aspect of soft skills.
• Soft skills have to be applied to real-life scenarios like meetings, interviews, etc.
• Soft skills have to be adapted to account for cultural differences which are becoming essential for success.
• A learning person is a successful person. That should not come as a surprise. Youngsters who learn regularly and put in practice the concept of lifelong learning can open up new worlds. They embark on new journeys and take up challenges, both big and difficult, and achieve success in such endeavors.

Skills, such as those outlined in this book, help create inclusive societies. Countries with a significant skills capital not only innovate, remain competitive and enable sustainable growth but also help create inclusive societies with socially equitable distribution of the accrued benefits.

The book discusses a vast number of concepts, including important topics like diversity and privacy that are seldom touched upon in soft skills. I found the book’s style to be simple, to the point and often empathizing with the students’ perspective. The authors understand the concerns of young people as they try to see around the bend. The book introduces the students to a vast chest of skills which are needed to succeed in today’s world. To the casual reader, this book will be impressive because of its sheer scope, but practitioners will be astonished by the book’s depth of detail.

In all, I find this book to be a right supplement to the formal educational tools and a must-read for every student aspiring for a stellar career. I do wish the book all the success it deserves and that the students embarking on their careers will use this valuable resource in adapting themselves to the challenges of a career.

Dr. Vikas Singh
Social Entrepreneur and Co-Founder
Crux Management Services Pvt. Limited
Hyderabad