College placement in India: The evolution, outlook for 2024 and strategies for organisations

Campus hiring will always be significant in the talent industry. Freshers bring a fearless, fresh perspective to many workplace aspects, which helps the long-term outlook of organisations from the perspective of the leadership. Many freshers have risen to lead their organisations.

Often, we associate campus hiring with the traditional in-campus hiring from educational institutes. However, off-campus fresher hiring outside the campus also happens. Here, the freshers go through the complete hiring process by themselves. Many organisations conduct online off-campus hiring events.

Here is a quick glimpse of the evolution of campus hiring over the years.

Campus hiring evolution

Initially, campus hiring was a seasonal activity, done at a specific time of the year. Organisations collaborated with a few institutions to hire freshers for identified roles. It involved campus visits to familiarise the college authorities and the students with the company, its business, vision, etc.

Set question papers to assess aptitude and English and one paper to evaluate the generic technical knowledge of candidates constituted a traditional pen-and-paper test. Every student addressed the same questions. Over the years, minor changes to include sector- or industry-specific questions were implemented.

However, many industry leaders rethought campus strategies to find talent that they could bank on in the long run. Campus hiring, thus, evolved as a consulting service covering the entire gamut with strategies, online assessments, etc. This traditional approach thrived until Covid-19 gave a much-needed nudge.

Covid: the game changer!

Covid-19 proved to be a big game changer for the hiring industry. Covid curbs significantly affected offline hiring. Online processes were the only way to continue hiring, leading to an accelerated adoption of online hiring platforms. Many organisations started exploring the features and appreciated the benefits of online hiring, resulting in the platforms and processes getting whetted. Campus hiring evolved into a full-fledged model, with the entire workflow, from outreach to onboarding, getting a tech-based facelift. It ceased to be seasonal, with constant engagement becoming a key strategy. In short, Covid-19 showed the world that fearless, seamless hiring was possible.

Some significant benefits of online hiring include:

• Wider talent reach
• Shifting of focus from shortlisting campuses to shortlisting candidates
• Accelerated hiring cycle time
• Enhanced interview logistics with no lags
• Assured transparency and integrity
• Superior candidate engagement

Let’s now look at some significant campus hiring trends for 2024.

Significant 2024 college hiring trends

In 2024 campus hiring will look much different, with a few new trends emerging, such as:

1. Future is Phygital (Physical + digital)

   2024 campus hiring will mostly be phygital, with in-person hiring happening in only two categories:

   • High-end talent on premium campuses within a given window
   • Brand push-through on-campus

2. Hiring pool has become diverse

   Earlier, specific sectors were known for hiring certain roles only. But now, most sectors will hire for diverse roles. For example, the banking sector may hire from premium B schools for core banking, from Tier 2 or 3 B-schools for operations and from premier engineering colleges for automation. The scope of the entry-level talent spectrum has diversified.

3. Demand may come up by April or May 2024

   Campus hiring will be better than in 2023. According to an Economic Times article series titled, Class of 2024: Job trends that will rule the 2024 placement season, intent to hire freshers and young professionals is 59% among e-commerce and technology start-ups, followed by engineering and infrastructure (50%), information technology (49%), and healthcare and pharmaceuticals (42%).

4. Finishing schools could see an upsurge in enrollment

   Many organisations are seeking talent with extra skills or certifications topping the degrees. Therefore, finishing schools will see an enrollment upsurge and placement metrics will improve. At least 10 to 15% of campus hiring will happen from finishing schools that prepare freshers with in-demand skills.

Given the changing trends, what strategies can organisations adopt to succeed?

Rethink campus hiring

• Consider finishing schools along with traditional campuses. Hire graduates with extra skills to improve absorption rate and achieve fast productivity.
• Explore Tier 2 and 3 colleges through focussed outreach and skill-and-hire programmes for specific roles.

Explore alternate talent pools.

• Adopt skills-based hiring.
• Let age not define a fresher. Consider freelancers, women returnees, veterans, etc., if they are ready for a restart.

Plan for role-based internship programmes

• Plan internship programmes aligned with diversity goals, with associated sponsorships and mentorships.

Leverage phygital fully

• Implement on-campus hiring partially to create the required connect
• Consider in-office events to showcase your work culture
• Lean on digital to keep the branding, engagement and reach going

The outlook for 2024 college placements is hopeful. The evolving trends seem to be harbingers of change in the approach to campus hiring. It remains to be seen how these trends will shape hiring and whether the strategies will stand the test of time.

References:

• hirepro.in/resources
• economictimes.indiatimes.com
• linkedin.com