The Career Guidance Centre of GITAM (Deemed-to-be University) recently organised a conclave titled HR Conclave on recruitment trends in volatile situations – Mastering the Right Skills. Top industry recruiters and HR (Human Resource) heads were present at the event and collectively opined that as the job market experiences dynamic changes and becomes volatile, students are required to be fully equipped with the latest skills to face the challenge.

Stephen Kamal, Director, Early Career Talent Attraction, SAP Labs, said that 58 per cent of the hired freshers do not meet industry expectations. "Why is that? Because they only come with theory knowledge alone. It’s better to do your homework while applying for companies, so you know the profile you’d have and technologies you’d work with. If you do not constantly engineer yourself, you’ll be left behind," he explained.

In the session moderated by Shanti C, Professor in Computer Science Engineering (CSE), GITAM, the speakers discussed growth opportunities and employability challenges. This session also concluded with the opinion that constantly educating oneself was the way to go, according to a press release by the university.

Anuradha Amudalapalli, Partner and Location Head, IBM, said, “I tell students it is not just about learning and graduating. It’s a question of building depth in whatever you want to do. Identify a technical area, and go for certifications. Soft skills are called soft, but they’re quite hard to get. Aim for those too.”

Subrahmanyam Chinta, Global Delivery Partner and Senior Director, Cognizant, stated, “People talk about losing jobs. But I can assure you that if you are brilliant at your basics, you have a job. The industry is being disrupted fast. The challenges the industry is facing are changing within just two years."

"We must keep in sync with recruitment trends and know what is industry demand so we can design curriculums accordingly,” GITAM Vice-Chancellor Dr Dayananda Siddavattam said, as per the press release.