Freshers Survey 2019: Are students satisfied with their "University Hiring" process?

Three out of four final year students are not satisfied with the "University Hiring" process that organizations follow. These students feel that the companies that visit the University for hiring are not doing enough to screen talents in a proper way, and this air of uncertainty has led to "University Hiring" being labeled as an in-efficient process of hiring among them.

In order to delve deep, understand and validate this, we at Xobin conducted a survey of 1500+ final year students across various universities and cities of India. The survey was conducted from 16 to 29 Dec. 2019. Here are the results, thoughts and possible solutions on each one of them.

Those long Pre-Placement talks!

Let's face it, nobody wants to sit for an hour or more and listen about the past performance, the awards, and the comfortable work environment of the organization. Students probably know it and that is why they have applied in the first place.

What they don't know and are excited about is the work profile/job role that the organization is offering? What would they be looking for in the candidate? How can they prepare for it?

The result from the survey asserted this fact where more 76% of them said that PPT's are worth attending only if the companies are talking about the job roles, skills required and laying out a roadmap for their growth in that role.

PPT's are the best way for the organization and the candidates to come on the same platform and get to know about each other's expectations. It shouldn't be a bragging event where they try to lure the candidates with their brand, size, and money. So, the real focus and mantra should be:

Give Value, to Get Value!

Higher Education?

This surprised us the most!

People always talk about the fact that "Study all that you want, and then earn all that you can". Well, this norm is changing, as the highest number of students in the survey said that they would prefer to learn on the job rather than spending money on Higher education.

Experience is given more credit than Education and rightly so.

These millennials actually want to work, they want to add value and they take "University Hiring" very seriously. The problem comes when they don't get the same response from the recruiters and their organizations. They don't get the opportunity to even showcase their potential because their GPAs are low, and hence they're out of the first round itself.

From those who do get a job, many of them are not getting value for their work and recognition. This becomes one of the prominent reasons as to why they quit and having experienced this, Higher Education becomes a more lucrative option.

A big loss indeed!

Why enterprises?

More than 50% of students chose the option of getting a comfortable work-life balance as their primary reason for working in a big-enterprise.

This result brings me to the question that, Does a great job means a fat salary, great office, a big canteen, gym, etc. stuff or is it more about the "Balance" that we can create between our office and our personal life?

This survey proves that it's the latter option that really connects an employee with its employer, and he/she performs way better in an environment where their time and personal life are also valued along with the company's goals and objective.

Creating an atmosphere of certainty and understanding is what drives results and a huge emphasis on it should be given by the employer during the "University Hiring" process.

The companies who understand people and their emotions are the ones who keep growing!

Why start-ups?

Out of all our survey questions, the result of this question was a complete winner with a whopping 75%, and What's that?

You guessed it right!

The opportunity to learn. Of course, why else would a fresher be willing to take the risk of uncertainty and unpredictability if it wasn't for the immense learning that he/she could possibly get out of it?

Think about it for a second. A student, just out of college could work alongside a CEO! Isn't that amazing?

Start-ups should definitely focus on the learning and quick growth that they can provide. Students expect a very high-intensity from start-ups coming for "University Hiring" and a good office, comfortable chair and canteen won't get their attention.

High Risk, High Reward!

The dilemma of many!

There are few students during "University Hiring" who have the luxury to worry about which job to choose out of the multiple that they have bagged.

Job role, this was the option which was chosen by more than 38% of candidates. This comes as a surprise because it was chosen over the company's brand and popularity, Work culture and salary!

All more of a reason as to why organizations should try to create value rather than just luring away students.

Give them a growth trajectory and they will follow the leads!

Service Bonds - The game changer!

Yes, they indeed are a game changer!

Students are unwilling to accept a long service agreement and are even open to dropping that job as in this fast-paced world, with endless opportunities, nobody wants to get bogged down with a lengthy service agreement/bond, and if they're sacrificing their freedom of change then they look for other attractive perks, like a big pay-check.

The better option is to keep such agreements short and try to add value to your employee's work rather than tying him/her down.

Bonds are Burdens!

Conclusion

"University Hiring" is being termed as an in-efficient process because there's a difference in the expectations of the students and their employers and this survey proves that these differences are small which can easily be reduced. The opinions in the article were my interpretations of the survey and better solutions and opinions from the readers would be the key to bring the best out of it.

Happy Hiring!