Talent-On-Demand - The New Paradigm In Fresher Recruitment

It has come to notice recently of the lack of job ready training within the framework of formal education in India. The young adults of today require a different set of support services rather than the typical traditional approach. These services that are required include skill development, role alignment, counselling, placement support and interview/ aptitude preparation training that are often unavailable as a wholesome course. While this is a critical concern, there is a bigger problem that these students face today, and that is industry/ role relevance.

A recent research titled as ‘The Voice of the Employer on the Effects and Opportunities of Professional Development’ pointed out that universities and colleges must now work towards giving students the very skills that are required for jobs and long term success in an industry rather than focusing only on generic aspects. This makes sense in today’s world of technology more than ever before. Skills are more important than credentials. Even if students have the right degree but lack the right skills, then their degree is of little practical use.

How does such training benefit colleges

A University or a college that responds to industry needs appropriately will not only attract, success driven students to apply but will also attract corporate companies who are looking for professionally trained fresher  to join their workforce. The same research paper brings to our notice that 95% of corporations now financially support training with their own spending that a whopping $172 billion. But this spending is done via internal training programs or third party training partners. Universities and colleges have been missing out on this critical revenue system since employers feel that their programs are not industry relevant. The report further pointed out that just 16% of employers feel that there is adequate availability of programs and universities that tailor to the needs and just 9% of corporate companies are presently engaged in partnerships.

This presents a great opportunity for higher education institutions and graduates.

Most employers in the IT industry believe that universities and colleges should work closely with the industry so as to train as per their needs. With the rapid change in technologies, it is crucial to ensure that the training is contemporary and relevant. But can educational institutions move at the speed of the industry perpetually?

Institutions will require close consultations with businesses prior to launching specific training programmes clinically aligned to job roles.  Institutions will need to offer courses that are tailored to the real job world, the easiest way being by partnering with companies who offer specific skilling programmes with respect to making the job aspirants employable and as a result, billable from the first day at work.  As of now, structural unemployment issues are plaguing India since the skill sets required by the IT companies does not match the skill set possessed by the students.

The Train-Hire-Deploy model is rapidly replacing the Hire-Train-Deploy model. It is also known as the Talent-On-Demand model. In this model, the candidates will be put through a rigorous training programme and be recruited at the end of it based on performance in assessment. The advantage of this model also includes preparation with respect to specific job role, better alignment to company culture and importantly, an outcome-based training model.. This is why it makes all the more sense for institutions to partner with tech evangelists in order to make cashable employees out of their passing out students.

Benefits to Corporate

Corporate companies get trained workforce that have hands-on experience in the technologies that they work with, hire them right off the campus, fresh out of the training, and such a work-force displays productivity from Day 1 at job that saves companies huge resources. The recruiters can onboard candidates closer to demand. An intimacy can be established over a few weeks of association during training to ensure better fitment to organisational culture. The recruiter can recruit the candidates who are the best-fits.

The bottom-line

Transitioning higher education to be more industry-oriented and skill-based into the 21st century can be complex, with a lot of constantly moving pieces. But tailoring programs that address multiple issues, aligning to the current and future industry needs can make up a critical piece of this complex puzzle. This would be possible by a common platform that interfaces institutions and organisations. Perhaps, Talent-On-Demand will be that platform going forward.