Only 7 percent of Indian colleges achieve full campus placement, as the top challenges for a significant percentage of recruiters are skill gaps and the inability to discover the right talent, according to a report.
According to the annual Unstop Talent Report 2024, as many as 91 percent of students believe their college curricula offer an adequate level of preparedness for a job, whereas 66 percent of recruiters and 42 percent of university partners feel the skill gap and lack of preparation are major challenges in campus recruitment.
The report found that 88 percent of HR practitioners expressed a strong preference for skill-based hiring, prioritizing candidates' abilities over other factors such as experience, academics, references, internships, and projects.
The findings are based on responses gathered from an extensive survey involving over 11,000 students, university partners, and human resource practitioners across the country.
Additional insights were also gathered through conversations with HR leaders which divulged their views on employee desires, the role of mentorship, competition, and more.
"By highlighting the preferences and concerns of students and HR professionals, we aim to bridge the gap between talent supply and demand, enabling more informed decision-making and fostering a more efficient and effective hiring process," Unstop Founder and CEO Ankit Aggarwal said.
The report further noted that the looming fear of layoffs has prompted three out of five (60 percent) students to prioritize job security overpay hikes. For most of them, in-hand salary remained the most valuable salary component, followed by perks and benefits.
Moreover, a significant percentage of B-school students prefer established and legacy firms, and working for startups has lost its charm.
Further, marketing emerged as the top preferred domain for B-school students, while Finance and Analytics topped the list for Arts and Science students.
In Arts, Science & Commerce, the most common offer for men was ₹6-10 LPA and for women was 2-5 LPA.
In B-School, 55 percent of men received an offer of over ₹16 LPA, but only 45 percent of women received an offer above ₹16 LPA, the report said.
