Recently SkillOutlook.com interacted via email with Ajith Mohan Director for India, SRH University On various aspects of future skills, global workforce, job markets, Mr Ajith Mohan briefly explained.

Q1. Could you share how SRH University supports international students, particularly those from India, in adapting to academic and cultural life in Germany?

At SRH University, we believe that a student’s success is shaped as much by their sense of belonging as by the quality of their education. For Indian students specifically – who now represent one of our largest and most vibrant international communities – we have developed a layered support ecosystem that begins well before they land in Germany and continues throughout their studies.

From the moment an offer letter is issued, our admissions and market teams in India guide students through their visa process, accommodation options, and pre-departure orientation. Once they arrive, structured onboarding programmes help them navigate administrative requirements – from city registration to opening a bank account – tasks that can be daunting when navigating a new country and language. Our campuses have active Indian student communities and cultural associations that help ease the transition into daily life in Germany.

Academically, SRH’s CORE model – Competence-Oriented Research and Education, is well-suited to internationally mobile students. It replaces passive lecture-hall learning with project-based, team-oriented formats that value diverse perspectives. Indian students often bring strong analytical foundations and entrepreneurial energy, which fit naturally into this approach. We also offer German language support and intercultural workshops to help bridge the gap between academic cultures, so students can engage fully with their studies and with German professional life from day one.

Beyond logistics, we make a real effort to ensure students feel seen. Access to mental health counselling, career coaching, and academic mentoring is built into university life – not positioned as a last resort. Our goal is to produce confident, globally employable graduates, and that journey starts with feeling secure in your environment.

Q2. How is SRH University adapting its academic programs to meet the evolving demands of a global workforce?

The global workforce is undergoing a structural transformation, and universities that cling to traditional formats risk producing graduates who are well-credentialed but underprepared. At SRH, we have deliberately built adaptability into our academic architecture.

Our CORE model is the foundation of this approach. Rather than organising degrees around a sequence of subjects, CORE integrates competencies – critical thinking, collaboration, self-directed learning, and problem-solving – into every module. Students work in interdisciplinary teams on real-world challenges, often in collaboration with industry partners, which means they graduate with a portfolio of applied work rather than just a transcript.

In terms of programme content, we continuously review curricula in close dialogue with employer partners across sectors including technology, business, health sciences, and engineering. Our partnership with SAP, for example – formalised through an MoU with SAP Labs India – reflects our commitment to ensuring students engage directly with the technologies reshaping enterprise operations. Programmes increasingly incorporate data literacy, AI tools, and digital business process management not as electives, but as embedded competencies.

We are also expanding our international dual-degree partnerships, allowing students to gain academic credentials and professional networks across two countries within a single study period. This is particularly relevant for Indian students who seek the combination of German engineering rigour and global career mobility. The world does not operate within borders, and neither should a degree.

Q3. With technology rapidly transforming industries, how are universities ensuring students graduate with future-ready skills?

This is one of the defining challenges of contemporary higher education, and there is no single answer – but we believe the institutions getting it right share a common characteristic: they have moved from being knowledge transmitters to being learning environments.

At SRH, future-readiness is not a module you take in your final semester. It is woven into how students learn from their first week. Our CORE methodology places students in roles where they must self-organise, manage ambiguity, and collaborate across disciplines – skills that no textbook can teach but that every employer in a technology-transformed workplace demands.

On the technology side, we integrate applied learning in areas such as data science, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation across programmes in business, engineering, and health sciences. We do not treat these as niche specializations – we treat them as baseline literacy for graduates entering the 2026 labour market. Our collaboration with SAP is a prime example: students gain exposure to enterprise-grade software environments and design thinking methodologies that are directly applicable to careers in digital business.

We also invest heavily in soft infrastructure – the ability to learn, unlearn, and adapt. Research consistently shows that the jobs of 2035 will require skills we cannot fully define today. So, the most valuable thing a university can give a student is not a fixed set of competencies, but the metacognitive capability to keep acquiring them throughout a career.

Q4. In today’s competitive job market, how important is practical learning and industry collaboration in higher education?

Practical learning is no longer a differentiator in higher education – it is a baseline expectation. Students, parents, and employers alike are asking a sharper version of the same question: what can this graduate actually do? The era of the purely theoretical degree as a reliable gateway to employment is closing.

At SRH, industry collaboration is embedded structurally, not bolted on. Our programmes feature mandatory internships, live project briefs with partner companies, and case study partnerships that bring real business problems into the classroom. Across our campuses, we work with hundreds of companies – from global corporations to medium-sized firms – who co-design learning experiences with us. This is not guest lectures from time to time; it is sustained collaboration that keeps our curricula grounded in what the market actually needs.

For international students in particular, these industry touchpoints serve a dual purpose: they build professional skills and simultaneously open doors to the German job market. Germany has one of the most robust vocational and professional training cultures in the world, and students who graduate with demonstrable work experience – including through the internship semester or thesis projects with company partners – are significantly better positioned when they enter the labour market.

The return on practical learning is measurable. Our graduate employment rates and the strength of our alumni networks are a direct reflection of a curriculum model that refuses to separate learning from doing.

Q5. How is SRH University preparing students to succeed in a global and rapidly evolving job market?

Global career readiness at SRH is a multi-dimensional undertaking. It encompasses academic preparation, cultural fluency, professional networks, and the resilience to navigate environments that will not look the same in five years as they do today.

Academically, our CORE methodology equips students with the applied problem-solving skills that global employers prioritize. Our international dual-degree programmes create pathways to qualifications recognised in multiple markets. And our growing network of industry partnerships – including with companies like SAP – gives students exposure to global business environments before they graduate.

Culturally, studying in Germany is itself a formative experience. Germany is Europe’s largest economy and a global hub for engineering, life sciences, and business services. Navigating life, study, and professional relationships in a country with a different language, bureaucracy, and professional culture is – frankly – excellent preparation for a globalised career. Students who manage this successfully have already demonstrated a kind of adaptability that employers value enormously.

We also invest in explicit career development infrastructure: workshops on resume writing for German and international markets, mock interviews, LinkedIn strategy sessions, and alumni mentoring programmes that connect current students with SRH graduates working globally. The German 18-month post-study work visa creates a genuine window for international graduates to transition into employment here, and our career centres actively support students in making the most of it.

Q6. Germany is increasingly becoming a preferred destination for Indian students. What key factors are driving this shift, and how is SRH University responding to this growing demand?

The growth in Indian student mobility to Germany over the past five years has been substantial, and the drivers are structural rather than cyclical. First and foremost, Germany’s tuition fee model – with public universities charging minimal or no fees and private universities offering competitive international rates – provides strong value relative to English-speaking alternatives, especially as tuition costs in the UK and Australia have increased. Second, Germany’s robust economy, low unemployment, and demand for skilled professionals – particularly in technology, engineering, and business – makes it an attractive destination not just for education, but for building a career.

The introduction of the Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte) and the expansion of the post-study work visa to 18 months have significantly improved Germany’s immigration proposition for international talent. Indian students are pragmatic decision-makers: they evaluate the full lifecycle from admission to career outcome, and Germany’s offering has become genuinely compelling on that full-lifecycle basis.

At SRH, we have invested significantly in our India presence to match this demand responsibly. We have a dedicated team and established partnerships with reputable educational agents, counsellors, and institutions across India. Our strategic partnership with SAP Labs India, signed earlier this year, signals to Indian students and their families that SRH is not simply recruiting numbers – we are building substantive academic and industry bridges between the two countries.

We are also acutely aware of the responsibility that comes with recruiting from India. That means investing in student support infrastructure, maintaining transparent communication about what studying in Germany entails, and holding ourselves accountable for the outcomes of students who trust us with this important chapter of their lives.

Q7. What skills should students focus on developing today to remain competitive in a globally connected workforce?

I would group the most critical skills under three headings: technical fluency, human distinctiveness, and adaptive capacity.

Technical fluency means engaging seriously with digital tools and data. This does not necessarily mean becoming a software engineer, but it does mean understanding how data is generated, interpreted, and used to make decisions; being comfortable navigating AI-powered tools; and having a baseline grasp of how technology is transforming the sector you intend to work in. Ignoring this is not a viable option in any field.

Human distinctiveness is, paradoxically, becoming more important as automation increases. The skills that machines cannot yet replicate – genuine creativity, ethical reasoning, empathy-driven communication, and the ability to build trust across cultures – are precisely the skills that distinguish excellent professionals. Students who invest in these alongside their technical development will find themselves increasingly valuable in a world of AI-assisted work.

Adaptive capacity is perhaps the most foundational. The ability to learn continuously – to be genuinely curious, to seek feedback, to be comfortable with uncertainty – is what allows everything else to remain relevant over a career that may span forty years and multiple technological revolutions. We tell our students at SRH: the degree is the beginning, not the destination. The graduates who thrive will be those who never stop treating themselves as learners.

I would add one more for students considering international education specifically: cross-cultural intelligence. The ability to communicate across cultural contexts, to navigate different professional norms, and to bring together diverse teams toward a shared goal is a rare and deeply valued competency in globally connected organisations – and one that students who choose to study abroad are uniquely positioned to develop.