Hiring trends in 2024: Skills over experience

According to Unstop Talent Report 2024, more than sixty-six percent of HR recruiters believe that the college curriculum needs to be changed to make students employable. In contrast, ninety-one percent of the students feel that their course is satisfactory.

Hiring and unstop is a community engagement and hiring platform for students and graduates publishing reports based on 11,000 responses received from students, university partners and HR’s. The report also noted over 40,000 nominations and over 80,000 votes this year.

The survey also found that the companies struggle to select candidates during the campus placement even though the country has a talent pool of more than 40 million UG and PG students. The survey also stated that the tech sector leads the hiring segment with twenty five percent of engineering, sixty-two percent of the B-Schools, and twenty-six percent of arts, science and commerce students are employed.

The Employer

According to the survey fifty percent of the students are confident that they won’t find a job in their parent discipline. The survey also highlighted that eighty-eight percent of the HR prefer skills over academics, experience or reference. The survey also emphasized that 3/5 students chose job security over pay hikes. Of the remaining 19%, about 11% are facing a hiring freeze and the remaining 8% have no openings. Notably, 79% of students feel going off-campus will get them desired job profiles.

What are recruiters looking for in 2024?

Recruiters in 2024 are looking for skill-based hiring, second is the list is diversity hiring followed by employer branding. Additionally, the survey found that more than sixty-eight percent of HRs use a combination of resume screening and skill assessments for shortlisting students. Skill sets most valued by the recruiters are Problem-solving and critical thinking, Communication and interpersonal skills, Adaptability and flexibility, Domain-specific competence, Creativity and innovation.

Cognitive thinking is the most valued skill ranked higher than technical thinking, highlighting the growing need for individuals with the right knowledge and attitude for work. Additionally, HRs also give importance to cross-collaboration, data literacy, and digital communication skills.

The Pay disparity

The concept of pay parity is always a matter of discussion. The women from arts, science and commerce stream is paid around Rs 2-5 lakh per annum (LPA) and men are paid around Rs 6-7 lakh per annum. Engineering students are no different. Whereas in management, fifty-five percent of men earn Rs 16 LPA and forty-five percent of women received an offer above Rs 16 LPA.