NASSCOM Assessment of Competence-Technology(NAC-Tech)

About NAC-Tech NAC-Tech has been conceived as an industry standard assessment and certification program to ensure the transformation of a "trainable" workforce into an "employable" workforce, hence creating a robust and continuous pipeline of talent for the IT/Engineering Industry. It is targeted at final year and pre-final year students, who will be seeking employment opportunities in the IT / Engineering sector. The intent behind assessing these students is to identify the level of talent which is available across India, especially in Tier II and Tier III cities and provide feedback to them on areas they need to work on to improve their employability.

Conceptualization of NAC-Tech In-depth meetings with the large recruiters in the industry were conducted to understand their recruitment practices, cause of attrition desired skills in a candidate, etc. Based on this, a job-skill matrix was developed which formed the basis for the design of this assessment program. Core and Working Committees from the industry were formed and constant interactions were made to make sure that the program was in line with the industry requirements. An evaluation committee was set up to finalize the vendors and decide on the approach to the pilot. Multi-tier evaluation of the vendors happened after the initial interaction. The identified vendors provided the content and technology to run the test. The companies that have helped develop the assessment program are - TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, Cognizant and HCL.

Key Features of NAC-Tech Eligibility for NAC-Tech - Any candidate appearing in 'final year' of BE, B.Tech, MCA, MSc-IT is eligible to take the test - Preferred Scores of candidates: 60 % aggregate in graduation, 12th standard & 10th standard NAC-Tech Test Fee NAC-Tech Test Fee stands revised due to change in the service tax levied by the Government of India, from 10.3% to 12.36%, wef April 1, 2012 . The price for NAC-Tech test per candidate is as follows: S.No. Test Type Old Test Fee (INR) Revised Test Fee (INR) 1 NAC-Tech Part A 155 158 2 NAC-Tech Part A + B 232 237 Apart from this, Rs. 70 / Rs. 60 as center fee (for infrastructure at retail center or college respectively) can be chargeable, if applicable.

NAC-Tech Test Matrix Part A (this must be attempted by all candidates) Skill Competencies Checked Duration (in mins.) Mode of delivery Verbal Ability To assess candidate's verbal building blocks by evaluating skills like grammar, spellings, punctuations and vocabulary. To assess English usage by evaluating skills like structure, arguments and verbal reasoning. 20 Online Reading Comprehension To assess candidate's comprehension of English passages and ability to make inferences from a large amount of information. Be able to connect the dots and make an assessment based on information and ideas spread across the passage. 10 Online Analytical Reasoning To assess problem solving skills through questions on quantitative reasoning. To assess candidate's logical skills by evaluating skills like Deduction, Induction and Visualization. 25 Online Attention to Detail To assess candidates eye for detail. 5 Online total duration 60 mins.

Part B - Optional (can be attempted if the student so desires) (The candidate can choose any one of the domains) Skill Competencies Checked Duration (in mins.) Mode of delivery IT To assess candidate's technical skills in the core area of education. 30 Online Electrical -do- 30 Online Electronics -do- 30 Online Mechanical -do- 30 Online Civil -do- 30 Online Chemical -do- 30 Online Textile -do- 30 Online Bio-Technology -do- 30 Online Telecommunications -do- 30 Online total duration 30 mins.

Key Benefits To Various Stakeholders Job Aspirants / Test Takers A common, transparent recruitment process across IT / Engineering companies. Ability to identify self strengths and weaknesses through test scores. Detailed feedback on their knowledge and skills help them decide career opportunities in different areas of IT. Employment facilitation using NAC-Tech scores. Educational Institutes Enable the college to generate a quantifiable picture of the knowledge and skill level of its students. Approach industry aggressively and in a more organized way for placement opportunities. Government Employment generation through increased employability of talent. Help in attracting serious investors. Preparing the students on skills that act as pre-requisites to work in the industry. Will help create a concept of 'education' to 'employability'. Industry Industry gets a pool of pre-assessed candidates mapped against competencies required for entry level professionals. It helps them reach out to a wider geography and access talent from tier II and tier III cities and institutions.

Employment Facilitation for NAC-Tech Test Takers Scores of all NAC-Tech test takers are shared, primarily with all the endorsing companies, and companies directly connect to those who perform well in the NAC-Tech assessment and meet defined job criteria.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Where does Indian IT industry stand today? Indian IT sector continues to grow from strength to strength, witnessing high levels of activity - both onshore as well as offshore. The industry clocked export revenue of US$ 49.7 billion (excluding hardware) in FY 2009-10 registering about 5.5% growth from the previous year. The IT sector also created a little over 100,000 jobs in FY09-10, adding the total employment with the industry to around 2.3 million in the same period. What role do IT companies play in NAC-Tech? The test is developed and supported by the NAC-Tech Council comprising of companies that conduct large recruitments like TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Accenture, HCL and Cognizant. The test identifies the desirable skills in fresh graduates that are essential, indicating their employability. During the current phase and the times to come, industry will play a more crucial role in lending credibility / endorsement to the NAC-Tech and will help ensuring that this program gets differentiated amongst other similar products which are available in the market. What are the skills being assessed in NAC-Tech? Please see "NAC-Tech Test Matrix" section above What is the minimum educational qualification / eligibility required to participate in the program? Please see the eligibility criteria under the section 'Key Features of NAC-Tech'. Are there any training programs / courses that one needs to attend before attempting NAC-Tech? Since NAC-Tech encapsulates skills which are generic in nature, NASSCOM does not endorse/recommend any Training or Training Company for the preparation of NAC-Tech. However, there are very many training programs, specific to the foundation skills, which are available across the country that may be attended if found convincing by the candidate. How to participate in the program and take the test? The test will be available from August 2011 for candidates. The candidate will be able to take the test through: A state is holding the test and is inviting candidates for it A college/university/institute is holding the test for its own students Independently through retail centres (information can be sought by sending a request to nactech@nasscom.in) Does one need to pay for this program? Under the first two currently-running models/approaches (as mentioned above), it may/may not require the candidate to pay for the test as this is completely at the discretion of the client organizing for the test (e.g. state / college / university / institute). However, once the retail model comes into play which will enable candidates to take the test independently, candidates will essentially will have to pay the test fee. Will people have access to NAC-Tech from small / tier-II, III cities? Retail model will surely cater to small towns/cities. However, currently, with the two above-stated approaches, these towns/cities can still be served by the organizing bodies (i.e. state / college / university / institute). What is the progress on NAC-Tech initiative? In pilot phase, NAC-Tech was conducted in 18 states across India and also with few individual colleges/universities with about 23,000+ candidates appearing for it. To take this forward, multiple approaches will be looked into to cover the country, schedules regarding which, will be published on the NAC-Tech website time-to-time and shall also be made known to the public through various media sources. Who will own this program going forward? NASSCOM, on behalf of the industry, will continue to play the central role. However, the business & governing model of this program, in view of long term, is under consideration. Whom should we contact at NASSCOM for further details? For further details on NAC-Tech, please contact Dr. Sandhya Chintala, Senior Director (Education Initiatives) or Ms. Avneet Bajaj, Senior Manager (Education Initiatives) at nactech@nasscom.in