Hyderabad, India, February 21, 2019 : Fresher hiring contributes to a large chunk of the employee intake for most mid and large sized organizations. Although hiring freshers offers the most cost-effective access to entry-level talent for companies, it also presents a huge challenge to them when it comes to maintaining the quality of hires. Especially so since not all companies hire freshers from premium institutions.
Issues with hiring freshers include sketchy resumes, lack of practical exposure, attitudinal issues, and much more.
Ajay Kolla, Founder & CEO, Wisdomjobs.com, said, “Whether it be campus hiring or walk-in drives, recruiters and companies grapple with several problems that are unique to fresher recruitment, ranging from sketchy resumes and insufficient practical exposure to unrealistic expectations about the job and attitudinal issues.”
Lack of core skills
Surveys conducted by Wisdomjobs.com have indicated that a majority of recruiters feel that the engineering freshers they hire do not have the necessary technical skills required for their job profiles, including coding skills, and require significant on-the-job training to perform in their roles. This is a trend that has been observed in non-engineering undergraduates and postgraduates too.
- 48% of recruiters felt that the engineering freshers they hire do not have the necessary technical skills required of their profiles, including coding skills. The corresponding number for non-engineering graduates (MCA) was 27%.
- 35% of recruiters say that non-engineering undergraduates (B.Sc., BA, or B.Com.) are under-skilled in their core areas while the corresponding number for postgraduates (M.Sc., MA, or M. Com) was 31%.
- 22% of recruiters opined that MBA freshers do not have necessary skills to fulfill their job requirements.
Looking beyond skills
Challenges with resumes
It has been seen that freshers lack the requisite experience and exposure when it comes to creating an impact upfront with their resumes.
- Almost 50% of the surveyed recruiters said that they regularly come across embellished resumes.
- 45% of those said that falsified educational qualifications/ fake academic degrees were the major embellishment. 24% said that fake projects and internships were the biggest falsehood while 20% also mentioned non-existent colleges as a common lie in fresher resumes.
- 15% of the recruiters surveyed mentioned erroneous and copied resumes as a common occurrence.
- 30% also mentioned vague/unclear information in fresher resumes as a problem.
The wrong attitude
Lacking in practical exposure, freshers entering their workplaces directly from their academic environments find it difficult to make a smooth transition.
- Over 50% of the surveyed recruiters said that freshers struggle with team dynamics.
- 35% of them said that freshers are unable to meet work deadlines.
- Nearly 20% of respondents said that freshers have inflated opinions regarding their own capabilities.
- Close to 30% of recruiters said that freshers have unrealistic expectations regarding their workplaces and initial salaries.
- 30% of recruiters felt that freshers lack concrete career goals and try to set goals as they go along.
Geographic disadvantage
It has been seen that freshers from Tier II and Tier III cities sometimes lack practical exposure and communication skills when compared to their peers from metros and Tier II cities.
- Nearly 40% of recruiters from the metro cities said that they were happy with the core skills of freshers while the corresponding number for other cities was 35%.
- While 55% of recruiters from metros were satisfied with the communication skills of the freshers they hired, only 28% of recruiters from other cities felt the same.
- Nearly 60% of metro recruiters felt that freshers had reasonable practical exposure (projects, internships etc.) while only 34% of recruiters from other cities felt so.
