ADVERTISEMENTS for vacancies in the IT industry are getting catchier
by the day. They lure you into reading the piece and if eligible,
into applying.
But ever wondered how many applications get the actual attention
they deserve? In moving towards a more responsive atmosphere,
with the brand of the company being a paramount concern, IT companies
are looking to outsource the mundane, yet crucial chore of scrutinising
invited applications.
Currently,
the recruitment scene for IT companies is dynamic and evolving
with new services emerging almost every day.
The demand for qualified people has far outgrown the supply, according
to Mr. T. Murlidharan, Managing Director, TMI
Network and CareerMosaicIndia.com.
Advertisements
in mainline papers result in a deluge which the companies are
often not able to manage. Mr. Murlidharan said that this chore
is passed on to the lowest common denominator in the office who
really does not do justice to the applications.
One of the emerging trends in this sector is to outsource response
management. TMI
Network for instance, has been offering this service,
he said.
"People who apply for a particular post must be given a response,
wheither it is negative or positive is irrelevant. If the applicant
does not get a response, the company's credibility is at stake.''
One of the current problems facing IT companies is that applicants
tend to bluff their credentials, especially on the experience
bit.
This is an offshoot of the high pressure `plug and play' syndrome
in the sector, where candidates are required to start working
from the word go.
Most often one advertisement in a mainline daily would draw as
many as 2000 applications. If justice has to be done to all the
applicants then online tests must be conducted.
Mr. Murlidharan said that TMI was in talks with an international
company to develop tests which would knock off the candidates
without the required skills.
The recruitment advertisements also carry detailed information
about the companies and the kind of projects they are undertaking,
which helps these companies build a corporate identity.
Mr. A.V Kurup, Human Resources (HR) Manager, Kale Consultants
Ltd, said that most companies are fishing for people with two
years and less experience and the only skill which is targeted
is the `tech' skill. ``The ones with more than two years experience
are not available for projects based in India.''
Companies sometimes build this image, city by city. Mr. Kurup
said that Kale Consultants, for instance, has a strong presence
in Mumbai, and thus finds the recruitment process easier there.
In Chennai, where it is fairly new, the company has had to go
in for the recruitment ads.
It is not just the candidates who are not quite straight about
their skills; companies which release the big ads may not always
be upfront about their projects.
Once the ad draws the numbers required for a particular project,
the company's pointsman in the US pitches for project said an
industry source. "Technology is no longer an issue,'' a source
said. "It is the number of people you can muster.''
On the flip side, advertising agencies which were badly hit by
the recession and low ad spends are perking up with the new business
coming their way from the off-shore IT companies, according to
Mr. U. Jayraj Rau, Vice President, Hindustan Thompson Associates
(HTA).