Priya Padmanabhan

BANGALORE:IT industry trade body NASSCOM today announced the completion of the pilot phase of the NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC). This tests the skills of candidates wanting to get into the industry. Kiran Karnik, president, NASSCOM, said that the roll-out of the tests would start in November 2006 in around eight cities.

Speaking on the need for having a program like the NAC, Karnik said “Talent is critical to the industry. Since last year, we have been planning steps to solve problem of talent shortage. The percentage of employable talent is very small in India.”

According to NASSCOM, only around 25 per cent of technical graduates and 10-15 per cent of college students are suitable for employment in the IT and BPO industry. It is estimated that by 2010, India could have a possible manpower shortfall of 500,000 people by 2010. Of this, the BPO gap would be around 3.5 lakh.

The NAC pilot started in August 2005, was tested on 6000 people with 22 ITES-BPO companies taking part. NASSCOM developed the test which can be taken on-line, with Hewitt based on inputs from the industry. Candidates taking up the test would be tested on seven areas including keyboard skills, analytical skills, written and spoken English, quantitative and logical skills. “This can be used as a primary recruitment filter by companies. We expect that individuals taking the test will improve skills in the areas which the industry requires,” Karnik said.

He expects the training ecosystem to develop around NAC. “It is for the first time that such standardized tests have been developed, on the lines of SAT, GMAT and GRE examinations, for the BPO industry.”

Karnik expects this move to increase the reach of ITES-BPO industry to tier-two and –three cities. In the second phase of implementation, NAC would be extended to 30 cities in India.

© CyberMedia News

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