EN
The Future of Campus Hiring
“The importance of campus (hiring) across industries, be it IT or ITeS... has only increased over the years.”
In our 5th annual HR conference - Instahiring 2021: Breaking the Barriers, Vinod Radhakrishnan, VP of Customer Success at Talview, interviewed Brijesh Balakrishnan, Senior VP at CSS Corp, where they discussed the future of campus recruitment, remote hiring, the adoption of recruitment technology at CSS Corp, and more.
Mentioned below are some of the highlights from the interview. You can watch the on-demand video of the interview below or read the summary ahead.
10:45 – The relevance of campus hiring today. Why organizations still need it.
14:20 – Has the process of campus hiring changed at CSS Corp post COVID-19? Have the target institutions for campus hiring changed?
19:20 - Why CSS Corp chose Talview for campus recruitment.
27:00 – What were some of the main requirements/features they were looking for in a virtual campus hiring software?
On campus hiring in the age of recruitment automation
When asked whether campus hiring is still relevant and if it has changed over the years, Balakrishnan expressed how the need for and importance of campus hiring over the years has only increased.
He highlighted how earlier only big, tier 1 companies bothered about it as they had an existing floor plan for virtual campus recruitment ready. The floor plan included not just the budget for it, but a training facility ecosystem, bandwidth, shadow support, etc. – which requires prior planning.
With experience and knowledge, more and more companies are subscribed to the idea – not just because of the cost saving perspective from hiring freshers (new college graduates). Balakrishnan emphasized that more and more people realized that campus hiring helps bring in new people and fresh ideas to the table.
“Freshers bring in fresh thinking in the organization… Fresh minds bring in a completely different aspect of how problems can be solved...”
On changing approach post COVID
Radhakrishnan questioned Balakrishnan whether he changed his processes and the target education institutions due to COVID. Balakrishnan agreed.
He elaborated that COVID-19 shook up everything and made them think hard on whether the existing processes could be continued to get the same results, if not exceed them. And if not, how could they find a different approach.
CSS Corp was lucky to have an early mover advantage in the virtual hiring and onboarding aspect. With this advantage, they decided they can up-level their game and get better results, and not just meet the previous expectations with technology.
Turning a crisis into an opportunity, they rethought business and changed internal hiring processes. For example, sourcing. They wanted to expand their geographical reach, not limiting themselves only to the regions where they had a physical office.
Virtual campus hiring tools enabled them to throw a wider hiring net beyond their two large locations in the country and expand to cities in India, the Philippines, Costa Rica, and more. Basically, they recreated the whole candidate selection process through technology.
How Talview’s Virtual Campus Recruitment Helped CSS Corp
Balakrishnan further pointed out the areas of campus recruitment where Talview’s virtual campus recruitment solution could help them. The AI-powered platform ensured the smooth functioning of everything from virtual selection, screening, offer, engagement, to onboarding and training.
They changed their entire campus hiring process within 10 days. They removed all processes that required physical verification and checks while adhering to compliance laws. Every other aspect of hiring across the globe was re-imagined, while making sure they engaged with all stakeholders and kept the customers in the loop throughout.
“What helped us is technology like Talview… made us achieve what we really wanted to do.”
From the beginning of lockdown in March 2020, Balakrishnan explained how they were able to hire 600+ candidates within the first month of the lockdown with the help of Talview.
By the second and third month, they started getting more business. Being one of the early adaptors of work from home among partners and competitors, CSS Corp stood out in getting their business to run virtually seamlessly.
When their TA function had to start gearing up, Talview stepped in with its AI-led, end-to-end platform. It not only helped make the hiring process virtual, but also took care of the candidate experience oftentimes lacking in the virtual world.
A major challenge that Balakrishnan and his team faced was identifying “fake” candidates or those indulging in malpractice during a virtual session. According to Balakrishnan:
“What Talview brings in is a fool-proof, safe environment to ensure that the employers can be completely out of tension that this is the real person that you’re talking to, and the candidates don’t have any way to refer to somewhere else to answer questions.”
Watch how CSS Corp adopted recruitment software for virtual campus recruitment.
Leave a Reply