Net connect has brought net gains for aspirants of white collar jobs in lower-tier cities. Institutes are not only actively pursuing industry for placements, but also ensuring that top-of-the-line companies come knocking at the door of their campuses to hire the students. Technology has certainly effortlessly squeezed the universe into a ball
Vyomesh Vashishth, a student of Jagannath Gupta Institute of Engineering & Technology, located in the Sitapura Industrial Area of Jaipur, had his sights set on the corporate world. His aspirations soared high and technology helped him make the transition. An internet product company provided the platform for him to connect with Birlasoft Technologies Ltd that fetched him a white-collar job.
Vashishth represents the emerging breed of youth from lower-tier cities that go that extra mile to groom themselves into desirable blue-eyed candidates for the corporate world. Savvy educational institutions located in Tier II & III cities are also making calculated moves to help students like Vashishth overcome the hurdles of location and find placement in the top ranking organisations. Sure enough, a different kind of life is being orchestrated for such aspirants from small cities.
Chennai’s Bharath Institute of Science and Technology may not have a city centric location, but it has MOUs with premier companies and training institutes to its credit. “Our year-long activities are designed to help students channel their interests and make connections in the corporate corridors. Their performance and specialisation are projected to the companies. The placement records of previous batches also help attract companies for recruitment,” said institute Placement Officer Senthil Kumar.
An educational institute on a highway will not be on everyone’s radar, unless it does some lateral thinking to make itself noticeable. “Situated on the Jalandhar Highway, with no direct air connectivity, attracting recruiters was a challenge. Students updated their knowledge through activities like Professional Enhancement Programmes, which connected them with industry experts from Airtel and Infosys,” explained Ashok Mittal, Chancellor, Lovely Professional University (LPU). There is a streamlined automated approach whereby students upload their CVs online. The webpage also provides information to students, while at the same time sharing feedback from the industry, so that they are better equipped for interviews. Besides, LPU organises HR summits regularly.
In the education vertical, the digital medium has left an imprint on placements, quite like social networking sites like Facebook.
Job seekers from Tier I cities have many opportunities, unlike those in Tier II and III cities. “Access and cost considerations associated with reaching out to talent in Tier II & III cities have kept the hiring volume low,” explains Himanshu Aggarwal, Director and Co-Founder, Aspiring Minds, a Gurgaon-based recruitment assessment company. However, smarter solutions in assessments and hiring have helped IT and ITeS industry reach out to cities beyond the top 20. “Domestic market businesses like banking, retail, and hospitality have a strong presence in lower-tier cities,” says Aggarwal.
Opportunities are backed by a focussed approach. CoCubes.com, an internet product company, headquartered in Gurgaon uses technology to help increase employment and employability for students. “We got students in locations like Orissa online in less than one week and connected them with firms like Accenture. We conducted over 300 such recruitment drives across the country; from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh down to Kerala in the south,” claimed Vibhore Goyal, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, CoCubes.com. The company shares SMS modules on CV writing. There is a log-in for students and colleges to share. They can also follow multinational companies (MNCs) on the platform. This year, CoCubes has partnered with several firms to deliver a concrete employment solution for third year engineering students.
However, with every student aspiring for a big ticket move, finding desirable placements becomes a problem, especially offline. “There are 20,000 colleges and five lakh companies – all wanting to get in touch with each other. Placement officers from Tier II and III cities travel to metros to meet HR managers who don’t have a clue about these institutions and are hence, not in a position to choose or reject one. This offline means of finding the right fit is inefficient in terms of cost and time consumed,” says Harpreet S. Grover, Co-founder and CEO, CoCubes.com.
Technology not only enables accessibility but is also a great leveller. NAC Tech, an industry standard assessment and certification programme from Nasscom, has created a national standard for recruitment of entry-level talent, besides reaching out to a larger audience. It is targeted at final and pre-final year students, who seek employment opportunities in the IT sector. An IT manpower base will be built through apex bodies and campuses across the country, which will be certified in tune with the industry. Those who have completed BE, B. Tech, MCA, M.Sc and IT final year students are eligible to apply.
Reaching out is the magic phrase and the winning formula lies in breaking the hegemony of elite academic institutions and bringing potential students from various corners of the country to the forefront. New players are quick to harness the emerging online community of lower-tier aspirants, like for example, MeraCareerGuide.com, a career counselling portal for students, professionals, parents and teachers. Students are guided to identify their interests and abilities, which is then matched with the career options open to them.
The time seems ideal to whet the market because the internet penetration in India has increased by 20 per cent in the last two years and is expected to increase by 5 per cent by the next financial year. For GenNext, social and professional networking offers the key to finding dream debuts. “Students can upload their demo reels on YouTube and the link is directly sent to recruiters. It updates on placements, industry news and upcoming events,” informs Gupta.
Broaden Boundaries
Educational institutes need to connect with companies outside India as well. They must also map companies relevant to the sectors in their state of existence and likely to hire from their institution. Students, too, need opportunities to showcase their candidature to foreign companies. “Lesser known campuses need to map organisations in nearby cities and areas, and network with them to promote recruitment. They must maintain sustained relationship by encouraging organisations to visit campuses for discussions and forums. The alumni net should be cast far and wide to ensure the institute is well represented in every possible corner of the earth,” said Anuricha Chander, Deputy General Manager- HR, Technopak Advisors Pvt Ltd.
Colleges must also develop curriculum and programmes specific to growing sectors in their region. This helps attract companies expanding in those domains. They can also develop specialised management development programmes. Institutions must work closely with industry to groom students in industry-specific needs. Pre-placement offers pour in as students’ performance become visible to organisations. Institutes must also train students before sending them for projects/internships in order to make the right impression on prospective recruiters.
Place of Placement
It’s all about packaging. The placement cell works as the bridge between a training institute and an organisation. The placement team recommends students to organisations and also grooms them for interviews as per the industry benchmark. They update students on the requirements within the industry, specific to their specialisations. Students are provided assistance in creating resumes and portfolios, besides being prepared for technical interviews through mock sessions. “A student must be provided complete hand-holding for placement,” said Naveen Gupta, CEO and Executive Director, FAVE (Frameboxx Animation and Visual Effects), a Mumbai-based animation institute.
Nilesh Sarawate Chief Student Mentor, India-Europe International Business School (IEIBS) Navi Mumbai, felt that placements can be streamlined by initiating a corporate-student network from the first trimester/semester of the programme itself. “It’s not the lack of quality jobs but a mismatch between what students expect and what companies offer that is responsible for placements being such an important part in the management of a B-school,” said Sarawate.
Hiring Trends
Generally, companies ensure that they hire students from top B-schools at a level above students from other colleges. A few companies also differentiate in the training provided to students from different colleges. Those from premier B-schools have a fast-track programme wherein they complete training in half the time vis-à-vis others.
On its part, Directi Internet Private Ltd, a Mumbai-based web products company, has a work culture that requires mature candidates who are smart, motivated and enjoy their work. Employees are given flexi work hours and don’t have to adhere to a dress code. “Our campus hiring spans across B-Schools, technology institutes and graduate courses. Each candidate, whether from campus or otherwise, goes through a series of tests, interviews and case studies. The CEO and top management spend time to make sure that the candidate completely fits the bill,” explains Margaret Rodriques, Associate Manager, Corporate HR, Directi Internet Private Ltd. For this reason, the company doesn’t confine its decision-making to just academic performance. Instead, a series of processes ensure that a candidate is evaluated on metrics that matter internally.
Throwing light on hiring trends, Chander added, “After the slowdown, the major chunk of hiring was done by banking and financial sectors as they had stayed away from campuses the last couple of years.” FMCG and marketing companies continued to make their presence felt at the campuses. “Consulting was the third biggest recruiter as they have a lot of work coming their way, with companies wanting to expand and venture into new areas,” Chander concluded.
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