BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to create a pool of ‘readily employable’ professionals for the BPO and ITES sectors, the State Government has adopted NAC Test, a NASSCOM initiative to identify and segregate the talent pool across the region, from this year. NASSCOM Assessment of Competence (NAC) test would be conducted on January 10 and 11, with all final year graduation students irrespective of their streams and all those who have graduated in and after 2005 are eligible for it.
The test would assess the capabilities of the candidates in terms of communication including speaking, listening and writing, analytical skills and ability to observe and learn. The candidates would be provided with report cards detailing their skill sets on all these parameters and the scores would be of great help to the potential employers to choose personnel according to their requirements.
The tests would be held at nine centres in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Berhampur, Balasore, Cuttack, Koraput and Sambalpur. Registration centres have been opened in all the collectorates at the district headquarters.
State IT Secretary PK Mohapatra said the test would serve multiple purposes. First it would identify the employable talent base and certify the same vis-a-vis industry benchmarks while enabling the job-seekers to know their deficiencies and correct the same. It would also give the potential employers a clear knowledge about the candidates they are looking for. But more importantly, it would help the Government in developing a database of skilled manpower while also initiating effective and pinpointed steps for development of skills.
With demand from the ITES sector set to sustain the current meltdown and post healthy growth-levels, it is expected that more than a 1.4 lakh jobs would come up in the next two years. There are more than 40,000 graduates from various colleges in the State every year. So the opportunities are immense, Head of State IT Promotion Cell AK Panda said. The tests would be conducted in association with State Higher Education Department and Employment Mission.