The COVID-19 pandemic has forced universities, colleges and organizations to take the digital route and operate virtually. But that has not come without benefits.
The pandemic-induced lockdowns have posed mobility-related challenges, which is why companies are resorting to virtual campus hiring drives – where they do not need to visit the campuses.
Simply put, it replicates the on-campus hiring process entirely in the virtual setting, using innovative digital platforms.
Digital platforms -- aided by technological advances and growing digitisation -- provide the entire gamut of services that on-campus recruitment drives proffer, while doing away with the hassles of multiple campus visits, physical assessments and so on.
From campus selection to pre-placement student engagement through case study competitions, and hackathons to assessments to interviews, such platforms help conduct every step virtually and seamlessly.
Campus intelligence tools
Companies and recruitment agencies are no longer recruiting only from Tier-1 colleges but prefer to scan a wide variety, spread across geographies, for potential recruits. As part of the virtual hiring platforms, campus intelligence and campus management solution tools have extended the recruiters’ reach, enabling them to examine quality talent best suited for their specific mandates.
After all, different universities and colleges across towns and cities boast of distinct specializations and expertise and are, therefore, better equipped to meet the diverse needs of varied organizations.
Thus, virtual campus placements have allowed employers to transcend geographical boundaries and distances and move to Tier-2 and even Tier-3 campuses to hire the best possible students. No wonder, the recruitment landscape is witnessing an unprecedented transformation, particularly in the area of campus placement.
Time and cost-effective
Other advantages of remote campus hiring include time and cost-effectiveness. Virtual campus hiring does not incur travel and logistics costs, allowing companies to conduct parallel hiring on multiple campuses using end-to-end platforms.
The solution thus helps employers to locate and hire talent from anywhere through a streamlined and scientifically validated process, and make data-backed hiring decisions.
Powerful proctoring technology
Moreover, virtual campus platforms come equipped with online screening tools and powerful proctoring technology to screen candidates remotely and ensure cheating-free assessments.
Coding, technical, aptitude, language and personality evaluation tools filter the best talent for companies. Additionally, a vast database of questions enables the platforms to filter students based on their intelligence quotient, logical aptitude and technical skills.
As the war for talent intensifies, virtual campus platforms are acting as enablers to access talent in Tier-2 and Tier-3 campuses. They come with in-depth online assessment tools that enable an end-to-end candidate assessment, ensuring that the companies only bring onboard the highest quality talent.
Furthermore, assessments assure companies about the quality of their hires from campuses in secondary and tertiary cities. Thus, one can confidently profess that virtual campus hiring is the future of recruitment, given its many benefits for both candidates and employers.
(Siddhartha Gupta is the chief executive officer at Mercer|Mettl)