Karnataka government job portal aims to register 5 lakh youth by year-end

At a time when the Siddaramaiah-led government has announced ‘Yuva Nidhi’ monetary aid for unemployed youth, a scheme which will be rolled out later this year, the Karnataka Skill Development Corporation is making parallel efforts to help at least five lakh youth find jobs through the state’s own job portal ‘Skill Connect’.

The corporation will also soon launch job-oriented courses in Kannada, to especially aid youth from tier 2 and 3 cities. 

The Skill Connect portal, which went live in Dec 2022, has so far seen 60,304 job aspirants register. At least 2,500 have been recruited by various firms. 

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Intensifying its efforts with a target of registering five lakh youth on the portal by the end of 2023, the corporation has begun statewide campaigns in colleges. One such campaign was held on Saturday, with district skill development officers conducting awareness about the portal in colleges. The corporation has partnered with over 400 Government First Grade Colleges, Karnataka Skill Development Corporation managing director Ashwin Gowda said.  

The corporation’s year-end target will complement the launch of Yuva Nidhi, which promises monetary aid for those who graduate in the 2022-23 academic year and don’t get jobs for six months. 

Once registered on the portal, the corporation will offer training to candidates either in government ITIs or with private companies who have partnered with the government, Gowda explained.

Once a candidate registers on the portal, a psychometric skill assessment is done to suggest the most suited jobs. Features such as ‘resume builder’ also help candidates format their curriculum vitae according to industry requirement.

The corporation will also roll out Kannada courses covering areas of entrepreneurship, communication and creativity. This will include courses in critical thinking, problem-solving, team building, which will help job aspirants fine-tune skills. These are free courses available on the Skill Connect portal. The corporation is planning to launch this by August 15.

Presently, the portal has free courses across 35 sectors covering topics like artificial intelligence and blockchain technology, apart from those relating to interview preparation and spoken English. The courses are developed by private entities partnered with the government and curated by an internal committee.

Former higher education minister C N Ashwath Narayan had originally announced the portal launch in 2020. Total of 430 industries have partnered with the government, with the portal hosting 17,980 jobs and 310 internship opportunities.