The document outlines essential skills that fresh graduates in India need to develop to secure employment in a competitive job market, emphasizing areas such as effective email writing, business communication, and proficiency in software like MS Excel and PowerPoint. It highlights the importance of being presentable and confident, as well as mastering documentation, internet searching, time management, and calling skills. Additionally, it suggests online training platforms as resources for acquiring these skills.

1. Best ways for freshers to improve
their basic skills
The Indian subcontinent is gradually becoming a
force to be reckoned with owing to its steady
economic rise, and a growing youth population
that holds immense potential. Out of its population
of over 1.3 billion, more than 0.8 billion people
belong in the working age group.
Looking at such numbers, it is evident that the
country’s biggest asset lies in its young populace,

2. especially freshers, who are keen to commence
their professional journey as soon as they
graduate.
However, entering the workforce is not as easy as
perceived by most individuals. One of the biggest
reasons why most Indian graduates fail to secure
suitable employment is a major gap in the skills
they possess. These days, most freshers seem to
lack basic skills for certain profiles and as a result,
have to endure lots of hurdles on the job front.
Let us explore some key skills that most individuals
lack, and how they can overcome these
challenges.
E-mail writing skills: Why is it important?
According to research by the McKinsey Global
Institute, the average employee spends
two-and-a-half hours per day dealing with e-mails.
That’s equivalent to 81 working days every year or
a quarter of your working life. Since almost all

3. e-mails are written in a formal manner, the usual
chat lingo used by freshers tends to show the
employer that either the candidate is not
interested in the job, or are taking it too casually.
So, what makes an email work? Following are
some effective E-mail writing etiquettes that
freshers can follow:
— Focus on the recipient.
— Write E-mails using correct spelling and
grammar.
— Keep your writing short, crisp, and to the point.
— Leave little or no room for interpretation (they’re
not meant to be literature!).
— Have a clear call to action.

4. Business communication: Business communication
is basically how individuals communicate in a
professional environment. Fresh graduates need to
learn this art as they grow in their career since not
knowing this can cause serious repercussions.
Being presentable and confident: Fresh graduates
generally tend to be a little jittery when they are
moving towards the corporate world. The lack of
confidence is merely because this is a new chapter
of their life and they’ve never treaded such waters.
To all students starting out their careers, remember
to believe in yourself. Do all the work allotted to
you sincerely and with confidence and you shall
be good to go.
MS Excel: We are taught that excel is merely used
to add data to tables, but you’ll be surprised how
diverse it actually is. Excel has grown to become
arguably the most important computer
programme in workplaces around the world.
Whether you are budgeting, organising client sales

5. lists, or need to plan an office social gathering,
Excel is a powerful tool that has become
entrenched in business processes worldwide.
You could take up small projects and try solving
them using excel, and learn as you practice more.
There are various training platforms available
online that provide courses for the same.
PowerPoint: PowerPoint presentations are often
handy when you have to communicate pointers in
a concise manner. Basically, you need to know this
for communication to external stakeholders in a
structured style. As a fresher you should learn this
skill in college during presentations. You can also
acquire this skill on the job while you experiment
with different presentations.
Documentation and auditing: Most freshers are
clueless about the importance of written
communication. They need to know how to
document everything properly, both hard copies

6. and soft copies so they can be easily accessed if
and when necessary. Additionally, all
conversations and meetings should be
documented for future reference so that one can
refer to old notes and audit them when going for
successive meetings.
Internet searching: If any data is needed for any
project at work, then you should know how to
search and find data from authentic sources. It is
very important to know how to validate the search
results and which data to trust. Skimming through
several results is also a skill that you need to
master.You should also probably learn to
experiment with keywords to get desired results.
Market knowledge and general awareness:
Freshers should have a basic idea about the sector
they are interested in like: knowing the best ways
to do things, interacting with friends, best practices,
what competitors are up to, etc. Stay au courant of
latest concepts about the industry.

7. Time management: One needs to understand to
value the time of both their manager and their
own. Estimation of timelines and prioritisation of
tasks are important for delivering any project.
Moreover, if asked for an estimate of time, one
should always under promise and over deliver as it
helps create a good impression.
Calling/ communication skills: All professionals,
not just tele-callers, need to have good calling
etiquette. Learn how to start a conversation, how
to conclude a conversation, and how and when to
take pause at right places.
As a fresher, if you already have the skills
mentioned above, it would help you pick up any
roles in an organisation quickly. You can also take
up several course packages offered on online
training platforms for both interpersonal and
computer skills.