This New Year promises to ring in optimism for college students in the Capital as far as campus placements are concerned. Predictions by recruitment experts and human resource consultancies suggest that campus recruitments may gain momentum in 2014 despite the economic slowdown, making way for some new hiring trends.
“With the world looking at India, the job scenario is likely to improve. Recruiters visit colleges for two reasons – they get young, bright minds who are ready to learn and they get employees who are highly trainable and more performance driven. Companies get cost benefits too,” says Seema Mehra Parihar, founder chairperson, Central Placement Cell, Delhi University.
Campus hiring upbeat
Hiring trends in 2013 indicated that despite the slowdown, India Inc was strong on campus placements. As per a campus study conducted by Aon Hewitt, the global human resource consulting and outsourcing firm, the economic slowdown did not deter employers from actively pursuing candidates through on-campus recruiting programmes. Mainstay sectors such as consumer durables, engineering/manufacturing, and automobiles reported a stable outlook with a majority reporting no change in hiring plans.
The study findings revealed a steady flow of pre-placement offers and interviews (PPIs and PPOs). In a year where concern about final placements was high, the PPOs and PPIs offered at campuses gave some respite with many organisations using it as a strategy to spot and retain talent ahead of the placement season. Besides compensation, more and more organisations were looking at providing accelerated development, roles that offered varied experience and flexible work arrangements to campus hires.
The study findings revealed a steady flow of pre-placement offers and interviews (PPIs and PPOs). In a year where concern about final placements was high, the PPOs and PPIs offered at campuses gave some respite with many organisations using it as a strategy to spot and retain talent ahead of the placement season. Besides compensation, more and more organisations were looking at providing accelerated development, roles that offered varied experience and flexible work arrangements to campus hires.
Positives for grads
Another key trend in 2014 will be the presence of entrepreneurial ventures on campuses. “Besides the established players, a number of start-ups are expected to come for placements. These are youth-driven ventures which look at inducting fresh minds just like their founders,” adds Parihar.
According to Rihan Khan Suri, university placement officer at Jamia Millia Islamia, “While most of the big companies have squeezed their numbers, middle-level companies and start-ups are expecting to get good talent from the good campuses.”
“We have increased our reach among alumni and past recruiters and are focussing on emerging areas and companies. We are looking for more international placements this year. Also, increasing industry interaction by inviting professionals for more student interactions, industrial visits, greater students’ participation in various national and international competitions, pre-placement camps, and industry mentorship programmes are some ways through which we plan to boost our placement drive. More than 30 companies have offered placements to more than 124 students till date,” adds Suri.
What’s also excellent news for students from arts background is that many of them from the social sciences and humanities and allied areas are being welcomed by recruiters. “Supporting jobs are coming for them and they are doing equally well. Recently, Japanese company OJI Holdings recruited an MA economics student at an annual salary package of `18 lakh,” says Suri.
Delhi University is also hopeful of a similar trend. “The meaning of participatory development has changed for many companies as they are emphasising on CSR activities. They are looking to hire students from the social sciences and research. They are willing to give higher packages to students from sociology, social work, international relations and political science.,” says Parihar.