Graduating Soon: Is the Job Market Stable Enough for Our Placements?

Hi again!

Can you please tell me about the placements scenario in the industry now? Is the market stable enough... 😕 We are graduating next year. Help me out.

Although companies have started hiring again, it surely isn't the way it used to be before the recession, and more emphasis is on Sales/BPO hiring. Other streams are still having a difficult time getting placed well.

Now, even before hiring a single resource, companies want to be convinced enough that this resource is actually needed, which means no unnecessary headcount.

Given the fact that you both are from HR, more extra efforts are going to be needed in a time like this. HR itself is a department where people are not required dime a dozen, and the way the market is now, most companies are trying to make it lean.

If you both are from well-known colleges, and even if you are not, it's better you make a placement committee or, if you already have one, start working with them and try to pitch for big/medium/small companies by giving them a presentation about your HR course and check with them if they are hiring candidates for HR roles.

As I said, this time around, as a personal opinion, I think a lot of effort will be required to get placed in HR roles in companies.

Best of luck to both of you, and I hope that both of you will land in good HR roles.

Hello Prashant,

Thank you for your suggestions. As a fresher, what sort of knowledge base, i.e., just the regular HR knowledge or the more contemporary issues and trends in HR, is required to get that edge? Also, are there any special courses that employers generally look for in HR candidates? And most importantly, are there any renowned companies hiring HR candidates (fresher)? If so, which ones?

Kindly help.

Prashant sir,

We have already given the presentations at Bangalore, Kolkata, and Delhi. We have plans for Mumbai too. I can say that I am from a good institution; you might have heard of it (XISS, Ranchi). Our alumni base is very strong. Please stay in touch, sir; your inputs are useful for us. If it's fine with you, please forward your email address.

Thank you.

Priya,

Indeed, you are from a good college, but again, this time around things are still quite dicey. I am assuming that if you are from XISS, then the campus for you guys should be good enough. XISS holds a good reputation among corporates. Along with Mumbai, consider looking at Hyderabad and Chennai as well.

Your college has quite a good alumni population, and many of them are well-placed in highly reputed corporates. Get in touch with your alumni, especially the senior or mid-level ones, and check with them if they can help you guys with placements. They can be an excellent source for you to get placed or to get leads for placements.

Thank you, sir. The campus is good, but this year it's looking a little dim. However, we have our fingers crossed. I am in touch with a few of our alumni in Bangalore. Thank you for taking out so much time and effort for us. Please stay in touch. Sir, where are you from, if I may ask?

Madhuu,

Different HR people have different perceptions on what they want to look into a candidate /prospective employee. For some its strong conceptual knowledge, for some its confidence level etc.

But as a standard “to start with” I guess almost all HR people would like the fresher

a) To be sound in the theoretical concepts (that's the bare minimum expected out of the person that whatever he/she has studied should be on his/her tips ,if not all then at least most of it. )

The only thing what a fresher has in offering is KNOWLEDGE what he has occupied in these 2 years & if one is not able to showcase it then it's a waste.

I remember asking a fresher during the interview if he can just tell me overall how many subjects he studied during his MBA in 2 years & I will put him to next round & he wasn't able to answer.

b) If one has acquired knowledge about the latest happenings in HR or Contemporary issues & trends in HR nothing better than that & it surely impresses the Interviewer but one should try to present this knowledge during the interview process while answering the regular questions of the interviewer by trying to present this knowledge through examples etc Or try to link this knowledge somehow while answering those questions.

According to me it won't be really very impressive if without even asking you start telling the Interviewer the whole information about “Phantom Stock Option”.

c) Third thing will be articulation. No matter how knowledgeable you are OR how much you know if you are not able to articulate that knowledge well enough in front of a interviewer with full confidence (mind it not OVER CONFIDENCE) then it won't really give you the edge what you are trying to gain.

Not only during the interview process but even when you are in HR job you have to be articulative enough in your work so that people get the right message from you & at the same time has to be very careful with what you say or what you write because HR is one job which creates a balancing act between management & employees & is a crucial one also, so one wrong thing said or sent in written & it immediately creates a problem for the HR person.

As far as doing some additional courses at fresher level are concerned surely one can go ahead & can do some courses & MAY BE they will gain some mileage out of it but according to me these additional courses actually generates value when one has acquired some working experience then courses like Certification in Psychometric Test OR Some Certificate Course in Training in Development OR something in OD etc will be adding weightage to the person's profile.

Last part of your question I wasn't able to understand so if you can explain that again I will try to answer that also.

Thank you a ton, Prashant, for this information. In the last part of my previous question, I wanted to know if renowned companies that have best practices in HR and other fields hire a fresher for the HR post. Since most of the "good" companies require at least 2-5 years of experience (which I don't have!), professors at college emphasize that the first job should be at a "good" company as that will provide broad exposure. So I'm basically in a fix as to what I should do.

Maduu,

Definitely, some very good companies do go to campuses to hire freshers (choice of campuses can be their own decision) but yes, they do hire freshers.

Although, if you understand that HR is one field where huge departments are not needed, unlike sales/marketing, so the numbers always remain few in the HR department. That's why you don't have companies in bulk visiting campuses to hire HR freshers.

There are certain exceptions to this fact also where some companies do have a good number of people in HR specializing in different fields like someone in Comp & Ben, another in recruitment, one in Performance Management, someone in HR operations, someone in Training & Development, but these kinds of companies are not too many in number in India. Maximum people are found in the Recruitment Team.

Don't have the misconception that "Good Companies" hire only people with 2-3 years of experience. Although it is a personal choice of the GOOD COMPANIES to go to well-known campuses like XLRI, TISS, SIBM, SCMHRD, MHROD when it comes to fresher level hiring, but not necessarily it can be the case all the time. They can visit any campus where they think they can get quality candidates.

But in a time like today, it will be difficult for me to comment on whether this time around how many good companies or companies will really be going to campuses to hire freshers.

Why your professor says that your first job should be in a good company is because in big or good companies HR processes are very well defined, well-implemented, and well-run so the fresh person gets ample opportunity to learn new things and actually gets a very fair understanding of why something has been done and how it has been done.

Secondly, when someone spends a decent amount of time working in HR in a big brand name, then it becomes easier for him/her to cash in future either in terms of role or in terms of money or both when he plans to make a switch to another company.

Also, I would like to share with you that it is not necessary that only Good Companies or Big Companies provide Good HR Exposure. Many times some small companies also give fantastic HR exposure.

Thank you once again, Prashant sir, for clearing my doubts. Basically, I'm pursuing my MBA in HR from not so "branded" institutes that you have mentioned. That's why I'm a bit apprehensive about my situation since I am dependent on my institute in this case (also trying on my own). However, I know that I'm a fast learner and have the appetite to learn and grow. Hopefully, that should help me in the long run! I would really like to add you to my contacts list if that's okay with you! Can I get back to you if there are queries regarding this profession in the future? It would be a real help then.

Thank you and regards,
Madhulika

Hello Prashant,

My name is Daman. I am employed in my capacity as the Head of L&D and also involved in OD, working for a bank in the UAE. I am looking for some cost-effective psychometric tests for new joiners, mainly for assessing personality and knowledge. Do you have anything in mind? I seek your assistance on links; online options would work as well. You could respond back to me at damanarang@gmail.com as I am new to this site and unfamiliar with how to navigate it.

Thanks and regards,
Daman (Ms.)

Ms. Daman,

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a widely used psychometric test across the globe for assessing personality. Although there are others also like 16PF, Thomas PPA etc. but still MBTI is considered to be the mostly used psychometric test & it is considered to be a notch above the rest.( based on the public opinion reason being it can be used in most of the situations )

We were in the process of buying a psychometric test product & that's where I did some findings on Thomas PPA & 16 PF, their certifications & the cost of the product but that is for "INDIA".

I have no clue on the cost /certifications of these products in UAE. One vendor from which I was talking to about 16PF has offices in US & other parts but not in UAE.

Similarly for Thomas PPA product, Thomas international has got office in Kuwait in Middle East.

So probably you have to find companies on your own who are offering these products in UAE.

To help you with MBTI there is a company in UAE called [B]"Innovative Human Resource Solution” {www.ihsdubai.com} who I read last is authorized to sell & administer MBTI & other major products in UAE region. You can contact them for more information.

Also I got to know that University of Wollongong regularly conducts MBTI workshops. So you can also touch base with them.

Thanks, Prashant. Appreciate your assistance. I am aware of the MBTI and Thomas PPA, but at this point of the recession, the bank is unwilling to spend too much. Hence, a challenge for me to look up something inexpensive and cost-effective. I've looked at 16PF as well and Enneagram Personality tests. Well beyond budget is what the big guys claim! Looking for something that probably I could get trained in and then do it online.

Anyway, I will contact these guys at Wollongong. I know IHS guys as well. In fact, have dealt with them recently on some training programs. Have been reading on the HR scene in India. It's the same everywhere. I can well understand the anxiety levels of students. Thanks, Prashant. We shall be in touch.

I agree with the point that companies right now are not too keen to spend money on things on which they don't see immediate returns or if they know that this could "wait." That's one reason why we also put the idea of buying a psychometric test product on hold for a while.

I have a suggestion to make which is no different from what you have thought of. If you can get certified in Psychometric Test and its evaluation, then probably you can develop your own test. Coming from the bank, and knowing its internal structure well, you can effectively define what kind of employees (or personalities) are needed in the bank at different levels and in different departments.

I just came across this: [UOWD - News & Events -](http://www.uowdubai.ac.ae/news/index.php?action=view&id=229&PHPSESSID=cf930e5d15f bd1e88dec77610f53301c). See if this can be of any help. I have the name/email id of the contact person for the MBTI Course at the end. - Prashant