Model Career Centres to be establish in 15 TN districts

CHENNAI: With an aim to conduct psychometric tests for the job seekers and students and to use findings to impart counseling related to career and job opportunities, 'Model Career Centers' are to be established in 15 districts in Tamil Nadu.

After the National Employment Service was transformed into the National Career Service (NCS), employment offices in the State were asked to establish 'Model Career Centers'.

Stating that the Union government will grant financial assistance according to the State's requirements, a senior official from the Labour Department told DT Next that career centers will connect local youth and other job-seekers with all possible job opportunities in a transparent and effective manner through the use of technology as well as through counseling and training.

Accordingly, the Centre has approved to set up 'Model Career Centers' in two phases in 15 districts in Tamil Nadu at Vellore, Coimbatore, Salem, Tiruvallur, Udhagamandalam, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Kancheepuram, Dharmapuri, Tiruchirappalli, Sivagangai, Nagercoil and Erode districts.

"In the first phase, approval has now been received for setting up of such centers in Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Karur and Nagapattinam districts,” he said adding that these centres would be staffed by motivated and competent personnel, enabled with necessary tools and infrastructure for effectively and continuously assessing demand of skills in labour markets, local in other States and abroad by guiding youth visiting the centres or by outreach to schools and colleges.

"Similarly, various training institutions will impart on-the-job training, job opportunities according to the youths aptitude and potential, and connecting them with the job seekers through portal, job fairs and other possible interface with employees such as campus placements,” he said adding that the centres will also moblise employers and other placement agencies to connect to NCS for meeting their HR requirements.

The official said each career centre would cater to a catchment area comprising around 3-4 adjacent districts covering an area of approximately 100 sq. kms to map out the availability of institutions, industry, demographics and post the details on the NCS portal for general access.

"The catchment area is for the purpose of capturing information on the portal in a comprehensive manner and is not intended to deny access of services to any candidate,” he added.

According to the official, career centres will also undertake market sizing exercise to estimate the number of employment opportunities in their area, associated skill requirements, skill training capacity availability.

"This will require close and constant interface with local industry and employers,” he said.