Press
Section IT cos battle with
job ad responses
Nina Varghese
CHENNAI, Aug. 28
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).
