Waseem, 29, has acquired an MBA degree from a Higher Education Commission (HEC)-recognised institution in Pakistan. He also possesses three years of industrial experience, yet he is still looking for a job. It is hard to believe he never manages to get past the first or at the most, second interview stage, despite having relevant professional training and favourable references. He gets no job offers, and its been this way for several months.

Does Waseem’s dilemma sound familiar? To many of us it may as it could be our personal story, or that of a friend, relative or acquaintance. After all, there are countless Waseems across the land, each stuck in career limbo. At this juncture, any sane and rational individual would inquire why is Waseem unemployed when he should be climbing the corporate ladder by now? And a superficial analysis would produce a very ordinary observation — unemployment rates are high in the country due to rampant downsizing. The youth is in hot waters currently, which is true, however, to an extent only.

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the unemployment rate here in the second quarter of 2013 is approximately six per cent. This rate is defined as the number of people actively looking for a job divided by the labour force. Therefore, if we only bear the statistical data in mind without analysing the reasons for joblessness, the perception that there is a dearth of jobs due to the Great Recession, held and presented by many a people, would make sense. Their viewpoint suggests that companies retrench continuously, as a result of which redundancies take place, causing scarcity of positions for the laid off workers and fresh graduates. But, is this actually true?

Every situation and perception has a flip side to it. Consider this. Ali, 29, who has also obtained an MBA degree and has similar experience and professional training as Waseem is smoothly climbing the corporate ladder in the organisation where Waseem used to work. Why do two individuals, who have the same academic backgrounds and professional experience, encounter divergent career development? Think for a moment before proceeding.

The main difference between the two individuals lies in their approach and attitude towards handling diverse tasks and work-related situations, the demonstration of their behavioural competencies, their ideas and perspectives, their ability to focus and above all, their potential to dream big. Sounds mundane? It might, but these distinctions actually play a pivotal role in shaping one’s future. These attributes helped Ali find success while Waseem seems to lack some of them and hence ended up jobless; not because of dismissals due to recession, or due to the name of an ordinary institution on his resume, as many may perceive.

When one analyses the reasons for unemployment, then downsizing and closing of companies rank third on the list, as numerous small-scale entrepreneurial businesses are emerging constantly to offer work opportunities, counterbalancing the shrinkage of the job market (Pakistan 100 is growing approximately 55pc per year and are collectively employing 41,000 workers. Pakistan 100 entrepreneurs, who are 42 years old on an average, plan to establish another company in two years, providing more job opportunities). The prime reason is the mismatch between one’s expertise and the job (every ‘one’ out ‘five’ is unemployed due to skill gap), while the second is the quality of higher education imparted in Pakistan (as per the annual plan report, Planning Commission 2013-2014).

“It is a widespread misconception that there are no jobs in the market. I know 13 vacant middle management positions, but there aren’t enough skilled workers to fill them. Candidates flood us with attractive CVs, however during the interview/s we gauge their competence through different tests and are disappointed,” said Zohaib Qureshi, recruitment consultant in a leading HR outsourcing firm of Karachi.

When probed further about the interviewees’ low proficiency level, Qureshi revealed that aspirants often aren’t as focused, reflective, analytical and mature in handling deliverables as required by the job, which is exactly why Waseem isn’t landing a job while Ali is going places.

In today’s highly competitive era, companies look for workers who take accountability and ownership of their work and are geared to bring innovation and creativity to their work. Even an intern can wait for instructions and follow them but employees are considered valuable if they can introduce new products, materials and strategies, as they take the organisation a step ahead. To be able to do so, one needs to first develop and refine their concepts, derived from the vision of how their innovation would impact the department/company, and move on to the implementation phase, applying their assets in abundance.

However, many out-of-work candidates do not seem to realise this, because of their lack of on-job experience and the noticeable skill gap. Employers are confronting difficulties in finding the talent they need to run their firms. “I would love to hire people who have ideas, positive attitudes and are organised enough to get the work done. One can rely on such staff and micro-management is not needed, but such candidates are hard to find,” asserts Rabia A. Batool, creative director in a leading advertising agency.

Unemployment due to major gaps in the skill set of workers is a recent epidemic many countries are facing. This disparity was previously masked by the recession, but as the dark clouds are gradually lifting now, many nations are confronting the quandary of joblessness. It is imperative that long-term solutions are chalked out in our country too before the next generation steps into the professional world, as failing to counter it would render disastrous consequences.

“The best way to curb the prevailing problem in short-term is to introduce quality but inexpensive training programmes for unemployed professionals so they can improve their technical and soft skills. Rudimentary workshops on leadership skills, good customer service skills, analytical skills, supply chain management, operations management, marketing, sales management, etc., can prove to be quite handy. Higher educational institutions across the country should take the initiative of conducting these workshops after office hours to facilitate the maximum number of executives,” proposed Capt (retd) Ahmed Zaheer, registrar of a top business institute.

Concurrently, a different and long-term strategy needs to be adopted for all the current graduate and post-graduate students so that the upcoming generation doesn’t have to tackle the skills gap problem when they become a part of the work force. “The skills gap can be bridged in two ways — firstly, the industry needs to work closely with the government and private sector, higher educational institutions and devise special programmes/courses which would equip the young minds with the necessary skills needed to survive and thrive in the corporate world. Keeping the local business prospects in mind, a few schools have introduced specialised two-year degree programmes in entrepreneurship and project management,” Zaheer elaborated.

He also stressed upon the importance of internships, apprenticeships and vocational trainings, so students can be trained by professionals while studying, and wouldn’t face problems once they start looking for jobs. “The management of institutions needs to work harder to create more internship and apprenticeship opportunities for the students, who in turn need to take these seriously and recognise the importance of such training. Our government should look into creating vocational training centres for young people so that they can get respectful jobs. This is the only way of controlling the prevalent dearth of skilled workers; otherwise the unemployment statistics will only soar in the future.”

The writer is a career adviser at a local institution.