Previously before getting in to the last year of college the students used to got placed in the companies during campus hiring but this year the scenario has changed.
The biggest recruiters and the most preferred companies amongst the students in colleges is the IT industry, has decided that they will visit campuses only in the final semester which means students have to study hard even in their last year.
Earlier most of the IT companies used to do hiring at least a year or so before graduation which made easy for the students to take it easy in their final year.
Som Mittal, president of software industry body Nasscom informed, “All our member companies have unanimously taken this decision. The change is not only for this year, it is permanent”. Also there is no chance of change in decision taken by Nasscom is even though demand picks up. Indeed, the trend is likely to catch up even with companies other than IT industry.
Nasscom has sent a letter to industry associations, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), which have in line circulated the message among their members.
In 2008-09 the IT industry had hired 2,26,614 people, but the number was much higher in the previous year to around 3,89,000 people. In the last few quarters of 2008-09 and in the current year due to slowdown there has been less recruitments in the industry and also the freshers are being given extended joining dates. Due to uncertainty in demand IT firms are finding difficulty in predicting how many employees they will be requiring to meet their future requirements.
On the other hand students who have graduated in 2008 and have been selected by the companies are still waiting for joining the companies as uncertain demand made difficult for the companies to predict the exact number of employees they will require in the coming year.
Ajoy Mukherjee, Global Head - Human Resources, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) pointed out, “WE felt it would be better if we go to campuses in the eighth semester when we would be in a better position to understand what the demand would be”.
TCS usually have an annual interaction with the heads of some of the top management and engineering colleges informed the colleges have agreed to their decision.
Mr Mukherjee said, “That’s the kind of feedback we were getting from the institutes also. They felt students tend to relax once they have got a job and focus less on studies. Trainee offers were being done a year in advance. For example, the students we made offers to last year will be joining us this year”.
Infosys Technologies board member and director-human resources, Mohandas Pai stated, “It is better for the companies and for the students”. He told Infosys has informed about its decision to all the 500-600 colleges it generally visits. He said, “I cannot comment on how many colleges we will exactly visit. All I can say is that the colleges are happy”.
Mr Mittal, informed that generally companies have been hiring almost three years ahead of demand as they visit the campuses in the fifth semester (around the third year) of engineering.
After the students complete graduation, approximately it takes one year before they actually become productive as they have to undergo training before they can handle any client projects efficiently.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Job portals develop city-specific portals in tough times
The global economic slowdown has shrink the recruitment market worldwide therefore the job portals are working on new strategies like launching city-specific portals or targeting freshers.
The Times Business Solutions has its own portal www.timesjobs.com
is working on city-specific portals, Info Edge owner of naukri.com and a city-based learning management firm Expertus have developed new job portals exclusively for fresh graduates.
Vivek Madhukar, vice president of timesjobs.com, says the content and the jobs featured in city portals are more centered and attracts both the job seekers who prefer to take up a job in the same city and recruiters who also look for the people staying in the city.
"Both job seekers and employers prefer specific locations," Madhukar pointed out.
Times Business is planning to develop around eight city-specific portals including Delhi and Mumbai which have already been launched.
He informed, "After the launch of the Delhi site (www.delhi.timesjobs.com), the number of hits jumped 38 percent, job listings by 27 percent and applications by 25 percent".
"The next city portal will be Bangalore-centric."
On the other hand Expertus, has decided to be more focused and aim the fresh graduates.
The company's managing director of global operations, Srini Krishnamurthi, while explaining the basis behind this decision, to the IANS said, "Popular job portals like naukri.com, timesjobs.com cater to everybody. A fresh graduate's resume there is like putting a drop of water in an ocean."
He said, it is better if fresher gets a job in the college itself through the placement officer interacting between the campus and the corporate people.
Naukri.com, feels the same that the fresher form a new segment.
According to Deepali Singh, business head at www.firstnaukri.com, "India has over 5,000 recognized management colleges, yet the placement procedure remains offline for most of these colleges."
Singh said, "This would help the recruiters to do first round of short-listing online. Second, there is no specialized portal which allows recruiters to showcase internship jobs or limited period projects for students. Firstnaukri.com will attempt to fill this gap in the online space".
Krishnamurthi of Expertus explained on job portals provide platform to tier-two and tier-three colleges to showcase their fresher students to the corporate world, as leading firms more often visit only the top colleges.
He adds, due to conventional campus hiring the talent supply appears to be short, and also increases the gross bills for firms.
Expertus is proposed to launch a similar type of portal in Malaysia in a tie-up with a local partner there.
Times Business is also working on the similar grounds to serve the new segment.
Singh informed, "It (portal for fresher) does not serve our primary purpose of finding for people the right job, at the right time and place. (But) we have a special section and micro site on timesjobs.com called 'CampusDirect' that showcases fresher to employers".
The Times Business Solutions has its own portal www.timesjobs.com
is working on city-specific portals, Info Edge owner of naukri.com and a city-based learning management firm Expertus have developed new job portals exclusively for fresh graduates.
Vivek Madhukar, vice president of timesjobs.com, says the content and the jobs featured in city portals are more centered and attracts both the job seekers who prefer to take up a job in the same city and recruiters who also look for the people staying in the city.
"Both job seekers and employers prefer specific locations," Madhukar pointed out.
Times Business is planning to develop around eight city-specific portals including Delhi and Mumbai which have already been launched.
He informed, "After the launch of the Delhi site (www.delhi.timesjobs.com), the number of hits jumped 38 percent, job listings by 27 percent and applications by 25 percent".
"The next city portal will be Bangalore-centric."
On the other hand Expertus, has decided to be more focused and aim the fresh graduates.
The company's managing director of global operations, Srini Krishnamurthi, while explaining the basis behind this decision, to the IANS said, "Popular job portals like naukri.com, timesjobs.com cater to everybody. A fresh graduate's resume there is like putting a drop of water in an ocean."
He said, it is better if fresher gets a job in the college itself through the placement officer interacting between the campus and the corporate people.
Naukri.com, feels the same that the fresher form a new segment.
According to Deepali Singh, business head at www.firstnaukri.com, "India has over 5,000 recognized management colleges, yet the placement procedure remains offline for most of these colleges."
Singh said, "This would help the recruiters to do first round of short-listing online. Second, there is no specialized portal which allows recruiters to showcase internship jobs or limited period projects for students. Firstnaukri.com will attempt to fill this gap in the online space".
Krishnamurthi of Expertus explained on job portals provide platform to tier-two and tier-three colleges to showcase their fresher students to the corporate world, as leading firms more often visit only the top colleges.
He adds, due to conventional campus hiring the talent supply appears to be short, and also increases the gross bills for firms.
Expertus is proposed to launch a similar type of portal in Malaysia in a tie-up with a local partner there.
Times Business is also working on the similar grounds to serve the new segment.
Singh informed, "It (portal for fresher) does not serve our primary purpose of finding for people the right job, at the right time and place. (But) we have a special section and micro site on timesjobs.com called 'CampusDirect' that showcases fresher to employers".
Friday, July 24, 2009
Fresh job seekers still have a long waiting time
There is news that the economic condition of the country is improving and some of the big companies are conducting interviews or will be conducting interviews but for job seekers especially freshers the picture is not as rosy as it appears to be. There will be hiring but slow. Moreover the new jobs will be mainly restricted to middle and senior levels so there is hardly any chance left for freshers, or those having three or four years of work experience.
This was reported by India's largest staffing company, TeamLease Services, in its employment outlook report for the period between July and September 2009. the company surveyed 495 companies in the country and in its report it stated that the net employment outlook index is set at 46%, an increase of 22% compared to the previous quarter. The index is the difference in proportion of respondents who report an increase in hiring needs and those who report a decline over the next three months.
Surabhi Mathur Gandhi, GM, TeamLease points out that across all sectors slowly and steadily hiring plans are gaining pace. He said, “The employment outlook, though a bit conservative, is upbeat." The highest hiring target is in the IT companies (40% against last quarter), followed by manufacturing (31%) and pharma (30%). But in sectors like retail, media, FMCG (19%), telecom (16%), infrastructure (15%) and financial services (9%) the hiring is moderate.
According to survey report only 10-15% hiring will be done at the junior level, which will include freshers and those with experience of two to four years. Mathur said, "It would be maximum at the middle management level with 40-50% and 30-40% at the senior level." The reason being the companies are looking for the experienced people who can add value to the organization and start contributing their best from the very first day of their joining. An HR official from a financial advisory firm informed companies hire freshers when it plans to expand its business. Pradeep Bahirwani, VP, talent acquisition stated at IT major Wipro, freshers are introduced in a spread out manner through the year.
In a survey it was reported that in the last three months, the rate of attrition was highest in sectors like IT, ITeS, infrastructure and healthcare, more than 10%.
This was reported by India's largest staffing company, TeamLease Services, in its employment outlook report for the period between July and September 2009. the company surveyed 495 companies in the country and in its report it stated that the net employment outlook index is set at 46%, an increase of 22% compared to the previous quarter. The index is the difference in proportion of respondents who report an increase in hiring needs and those who report a decline over the next three months.
Surabhi Mathur Gandhi, GM, TeamLease points out that across all sectors slowly and steadily hiring plans are gaining pace. He said, “The employment outlook, though a bit conservative, is upbeat." The highest hiring target is in the IT companies (40% against last quarter), followed by manufacturing (31%) and pharma (30%). But in sectors like retail, media, FMCG (19%), telecom (16%), infrastructure (15%) and financial services (9%) the hiring is moderate.
According to survey report only 10-15% hiring will be done at the junior level, which will include freshers and those with experience of two to four years. Mathur said, "It would be maximum at the middle management level with 40-50% and 30-40% at the senior level." The reason being the companies are looking for the experienced people who can add value to the organization and start contributing their best from the very first day of their joining. An HR official from a financial advisory firm informed companies hire freshers when it plans to expand its business. Pradeep Bahirwani, VP, talent acquisition stated at IT major Wipro, freshers are introduced in a spread out manner through the year.
In a survey it was reported that in the last three months, the rate of attrition was highest in sectors like IT, ITeS, infrastructure and healthcare, more than 10%.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Employment portal to be beneficial for fresh job seekers
In the Union Budget 2009-10 Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that the employment exchanges in the country will be modernized. In view of this the Ministry of Labor and Employment is planning to create a national web portal with common software for employment exchanges. Before the end of this year beta vision of this site will be launched.
Deputy Directorate General of Employment and Training, Amarjeet Kaur told CIOL that the website is an effort to give a single platform to meet the supply and demand of employment market in the country.
"There is no national-level web portal of Employment Exchange. So far, it had been operating at regional level, where individual states maintained their own job portals," informed Kaur.
"This new portal will gather information of 970 employment exchanges and function as a national employment exchange portal, like any other private job portal, providing information of vacancies from all sectors, verticals and regions of the country."
The new website will have section that would provide occasional guidance about career, new opportunities, market trends etc.
Kaur confirmed, "We will have a new section of guidance and counseling in the site. Our teams of consultants are currently working on the development on the site and will soon announce other features."
K S Meena, Director of Employment Exchange, explained that with the modernization of employment exchange the Center will become more strict towards the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959, according to which companies with 25 members or more have to compulsorily notify the employment exchange center about the openings in their office, and any failure to do so will be penalized.
Almost in every state there is employment exchange center. Himachal Pradesh, for example, is having more than 65 centers, Haryana has around 61 employment exchange offices including an overseas employment bureau and private placement service, while Tamil Nadu has around 48 centers, and Karnataka around 39.
In Jammu and Kashmir there are around 14 centers and Chandigarh has got around 6 centers. Many of these states are already having online facility in place, to check their status on the job waiting-list, search for suitable jobs and update their resume. However the process of registering is manual and regional. The candidates have to visit the center and submit the required papers for registration, and can register at only one center at a time.
Currently, around 40 million youths have registered to the center and there will be a gradual increase in the numbers of new registers. The existing members of employment exchange can use their ID to login to the website, while new members will require registering.
No subscription fee will be charged from the job-seekers by the portal, although, the job providers might have to pay around one months salary, which will be used for the maintenance of the site.
The government is yet to register for a domain name for the expected portal.
Meena added, "This is a huge project and will take about three years for completion."
He said the Ministry will be deciding the launch the pilot phase with five states namely Assam, Haryana, Meghalaya, Orissa and Rajasthan.
According to Assistant Director of Directorate of Employment and Training (Government of Karnataka), Veranna T.R, with the launch of the new website the entire process of job-application and recruitment will get smoother.
He informed, "The candidates can prevent the hassle of visiting the center to update the profile. They would receive job alerts on weekly or daily basis, unlike the quarterly-updates provided at present."
Agreeing to this, Roshini Kumar, a software engineer at Bangalore, had never visited an employment exchange center because she preferred the easy access to job openings through newspapers and privately-run job portals. "Employment Exchange is something I read about in books and newspapers, but I never visited any center because it was easier for me to register online and reach to many companies, easily." she added.
Raghvendra Jayram, senior software engineer at Accenture, is of view that the job portal will be beneficial for fresh graduates and young professional with around 2-3 years of experience.
He said, "The recruitments at seniority-level generally happen through internal references rather job portals. The expected government-run portal will definitely be a breather for the freshers, but I wonder how far it will help people at managerial level."
The Finance Minister in his introductory speech of the budget had raised the concern about the employment condition due to the existing economic conditions. There are hopes that new portal will help in appeasing the grim situation of employment market.
Deputy Directorate General of Employment and Training, Amarjeet Kaur told CIOL that the website is an effort to give a single platform to meet the supply and demand of employment market in the country.
"There is no national-level web portal of Employment Exchange. So far, it had been operating at regional level, where individual states maintained their own job portals," informed Kaur.
"This new portal will gather information of 970 employment exchanges and function as a national employment exchange portal, like any other private job portal, providing information of vacancies from all sectors, verticals and regions of the country."
The new website will have section that would provide occasional guidance about career, new opportunities, market trends etc.
Kaur confirmed, "We will have a new section of guidance and counseling in the site. Our teams of consultants are currently working on the development on the site and will soon announce other features."
K S Meena, Director of Employment Exchange, explained that with the modernization of employment exchange the Center will become more strict towards the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959, according to which companies with 25 members or more have to compulsorily notify the employment exchange center about the openings in their office, and any failure to do so will be penalized.
Almost in every state there is employment exchange center. Himachal Pradesh, for example, is having more than 65 centers, Haryana has around 61 employment exchange offices including an overseas employment bureau and private placement service, while Tamil Nadu has around 48 centers, and Karnataka around 39.
In Jammu and Kashmir there are around 14 centers and Chandigarh has got around 6 centers. Many of these states are already having online facility in place, to check their status on the job waiting-list, search for suitable jobs and update their resume. However the process of registering is manual and regional. The candidates have to visit the center and submit the required papers for registration, and can register at only one center at a time.
Currently, around 40 million youths have registered to the center and there will be a gradual increase in the numbers of new registers. The existing members of employment exchange can use their ID to login to the website, while new members will require registering.
No subscription fee will be charged from the job-seekers by the portal, although, the job providers might have to pay around one months salary, which will be used for the maintenance of the site.
The government is yet to register for a domain name for the expected portal.
Meena added, "This is a huge project and will take about three years for completion."
He said the Ministry will be deciding the launch the pilot phase with five states namely Assam, Haryana, Meghalaya, Orissa and Rajasthan.
According to Assistant Director of Directorate of Employment and Training (Government of Karnataka), Veranna T.R, with the launch of the new website the entire process of job-application and recruitment will get smoother.
He informed, "The candidates can prevent the hassle of visiting the center to update the profile. They would receive job alerts on weekly or daily basis, unlike the quarterly-updates provided at present."
Agreeing to this, Roshini Kumar, a software engineer at Bangalore, had never visited an employment exchange center because she preferred the easy access to job openings through newspapers and privately-run job portals. "Employment Exchange is something I read about in books and newspapers, but I never visited any center because it was easier for me to register online and reach to many companies, easily." she added.
Raghvendra Jayram, senior software engineer at Accenture, is of view that the job portal will be beneficial for fresh graduates and young professional with around 2-3 years of experience.
He said, "The recruitments at seniority-level generally happen through internal references rather job portals. The expected government-run portal will definitely be a breather for the freshers, but I wonder how far it will help people at managerial level."
The Finance Minister in his introductory speech of the budget had raised the concern about the employment condition due to the existing economic conditions. There are hopes that new portal will help in appeasing the grim situation of employment market.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Canadian business schools students optimistic regarding getting jobs
Due to slowdown in economy worldwide there has been slump in job market therefore it is believed many MBA students who will be graduating this year might be unlucky due to depressed job market conditions.
But the Canadian business schools students are quite optimistic regarding getting freshers jobs.
Till now Canada has largely resisted the trend that has witnessed the hiring levels worldwide plunge this year. The overall job numbers has come down but Canada’s biggest banks are hiring and its financial sector has also not observed its job market fading like that of the US.
In the US, business schools have reported as much as of 50 per cent drop in financial sector hiring, partially due to the loss of groups such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. On the other hand in Canada, banks are describing the current conditions as a growth opportunity and are busy selecting top talent from international competitors.
Joseph Palumbo, executive director of the career development centre at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto said, “It’s a tough market,”, where usually half of MBA graduates take up finance jobs. “But Canadian banks are doing better. They’re saying ‘This is great, we’re picking up great talent’.”
Canadian banks have not been fugitive to the turbulence and all have taken significant write downs on their exposure to toxic securities. However their cost has suffered less than their US counterparts and none have hovered their dividend. Last year The World Economic Forum had declared that Canada’s banking system would be the soundest in the world.
Although most Canadian business schools till now have reported a reduction between five and 15 per cent in hiring from a strong 2008, which according to them puts them at about 2005 levels. By September only the true numbers will be known, when schools will be able to track progress three months after graduation.
All the big Canadian banks and overseas banks who are carrying out operations in Canada have continued their campus recruitment programs, according to David Edwards, director of the business career centre at Queen’s School of Business in Ontario.
“All of them came back this year and they all are coming back again this fall”, he said.
The banks informed their overall hiring levels have remained consistent, with some changes in the sections where those new hires are headed.
Leslie Quinlan, vice-president of talent management at Toronto-Dominion Bank pointed out, “People are often surprised that we’re continuing to hire at the same levels as we did two or three years ago”. “In some groups we’re filling more positions, like wealth management, investment advisers and financial planners.”
Therefore universal approach is reflected throughout the banking sector.
“We didn’t even discuss [our hiring intentions] with regards to that being a source of reduction,” informed Rose Patten, senior executive vice-president and head of human resources at Bank of Montreal (BMO).
She added that she has seen “enormous accessibility to experienced people coming out of the US looking to come into Canada”.
Toronto-Dominion has continued to run its associate program, which each year recruit 250 applicants from MBA programs and business undergraduate degrees on eight to 24-month rotations through various departments.
However Canadian banks portray themselves as being in a growth mode, but not all of that growth is going to benefit recent graduates. Banks in Canada are aiming at senior-level staff outside the country that have been without a job or are unhappy with reduced bonuses and other cuts.
Meanwhile BMO has hired senior staff from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Wachovia and Bear Stearns.
Even though there is a competition from international recruits, Canadian MBA graduates are still finding jobs in the financial sector.
“In Canada we’ve not seen any firms drop their offers,” said Sharon Irwin-Foulon, director, career management at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business where around 30 per cent of MBA students usually get into the finance sector.
However, “it requires more intestinal fortitude now to go into the finance sector than it did two years ago”, she said.
The similar optimism found in Canada is now more difficult to come across in the US, where it will be difficult to find finance sector jobs.
“All in all it’s rough,” stated Kip Harrell, the US-based president of the MBA Career Services Council.”
But the Canadian business schools students are quite optimistic regarding getting freshers jobs.
Till now Canada has largely resisted the trend that has witnessed the hiring levels worldwide plunge this year. The overall job numbers has come down but Canada’s biggest banks are hiring and its financial sector has also not observed its job market fading like that of the US.
In the US, business schools have reported as much as of 50 per cent drop in financial sector hiring, partially due to the loss of groups such as Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. On the other hand in Canada, banks are describing the current conditions as a growth opportunity and are busy selecting top talent from international competitors.
Joseph Palumbo, executive director of the career development centre at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto said, “It’s a tough market,”, where usually half of MBA graduates take up finance jobs. “But Canadian banks are doing better. They’re saying ‘This is great, we’re picking up great talent’.”
Canadian banks have not been fugitive to the turbulence and all have taken significant write downs on their exposure to toxic securities. However their cost has suffered less than their US counterparts and none have hovered their dividend. Last year The World Economic Forum had declared that Canada’s banking system would be the soundest in the world.
Although most Canadian business schools till now have reported a reduction between five and 15 per cent in hiring from a strong 2008, which according to them puts them at about 2005 levels. By September only the true numbers will be known, when schools will be able to track progress three months after graduation.
All the big Canadian banks and overseas banks who are carrying out operations in Canada have continued their campus recruitment programs, according to David Edwards, director of the business career centre at Queen’s School of Business in Ontario.
“All of them came back this year and they all are coming back again this fall”, he said.
The banks informed their overall hiring levels have remained consistent, with some changes in the sections where those new hires are headed.
Leslie Quinlan, vice-president of talent management at Toronto-Dominion Bank pointed out, “People are often surprised that we’re continuing to hire at the same levels as we did two or three years ago”. “In some groups we’re filling more positions, like wealth management, investment advisers and financial planners.”
Therefore universal approach is reflected throughout the banking sector.
“We didn’t even discuss [our hiring intentions] with regards to that being a source of reduction,” informed Rose Patten, senior executive vice-president and head of human resources at Bank of Montreal (BMO).
She added that she has seen “enormous accessibility to experienced people coming out of the US looking to come into Canada”.
Toronto-Dominion has continued to run its associate program, which each year recruit 250 applicants from MBA programs and business undergraduate degrees on eight to 24-month rotations through various departments.
However Canadian banks portray themselves as being in a growth mode, but not all of that growth is going to benefit recent graduates. Banks in Canada are aiming at senior-level staff outside the country that have been without a job or are unhappy with reduced bonuses and other cuts.
Meanwhile BMO has hired senior staff from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UBS, Wachovia and Bear Stearns.
Even though there is a competition from international recruits, Canadian MBA graduates are still finding jobs in the financial sector.
“In Canada we’ve not seen any firms drop their offers,” said Sharon Irwin-Foulon, director, career management at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business where around 30 per cent of MBA students usually get into the finance sector.
However, “it requires more intestinal fortitude now to go into the finance sector than it did two years ago”, she said.
The similar optimism found in Canada is now more difficult to come across in the US, where it will be difficult to find finance sector jobs.
“All in all it’s rough,” stated Kip Harrell, the US-based president of the MBA Career Services Council.”
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