Skill-up and Get Hired: Skaut’s IT-enabled Model to Fight Pandemic Job Loss

KOTTAYAM:
Skaut, a new startup has come up with a portal to help educated and experienced job seekers, including those who may have lost their jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic, get hired easily by bridging their skill gaps.

The technology-driven portal assists candidates in both job search and skill development through courses available on its platform. Skaut also helps companies to simplify their hiring process.

Dr M Ayyappan, former chairman and managing director of HLL Lifecare Limited and the chairman of Skaut, said the startup was born out of the desire to address the issue of growing unemployment and skill gap.

Dr Kuncheria P Isaac, the founder Vice Chancellor of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (formerly Kerala Technological University), said one of the biggest issues faced by the industry was that though many candidates have the required qualification, they lack the skill sets to be hired. “This can be addressed through reforms in the education sector over a time. Candidates who keep searching for jobs in reputed companies neglect small and medium scale firms with good salaries. Skaut promises to solve this,” said Kuncheria, one of the directors of Skaut.

The brain behind the venture are three young engineers – Mathew Kuruvilla, Matthew George and Rahul Cherian.

The Skaut portal was launched today at a function held at POABS Corporate office at Kuttoor in Thiruvalla. Bishop Kuriakose Mar Gregorios and former Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose attended the function.

Skaut portal is currently open for registration for job seekers in all sectors, said Mathew Kuruvilla, CEO, Skaut. The portal helps candidates match with the best suitable jobs with the help of a software, which also analyses their education and skill sets. Employees who want to enhance their careers by upgrading their skills can do so by signing up for courses offered by Skaut. “Once the candidates successfully complete the courses, they would become eligible for jobs listed in Skaut,” said Kuruvilla.

Skaut believes that candidates need to keep themselves updated with new skills if they are to stay relevant. The Skaut portal offers tools to analyse their skill sets adhering to global standards. Skaut also has an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system for deeper analysis.

The portal also makes it easier for human resource managers to find highly-skilled candidates who are best fit for their roles. It also helps companies significantly reduce the hiring cost and time by simplifying the recruiting process. If recruiters feel that candidates are not skilled enough they can ask them to get skilled by selecting courses from Skaut. Some of the best companies across the world have partnered with Skaut to reach out to potential candidates, according to Skaut promoters.