The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is known worldwide for its outstanding engineering education and its graduates are highly sought after by companies all over the world. This article provides useful tips and tricks for Japanese and foreign companies to employ IIT students.

Providing internships

Many companies offer internships for IIT students. This gives students real industry experience, while giving companies the opportunity to directly assess students’ skills and abilities. As a successful example, Rakuten, a leading Japanese company, offers annual internships for IIT students and hires talented interns as permanent employees.

On-campus recruiting

Recruitment events on IIT’s campus are the best opportunity for companies to have direct contact with top students. Overseas companies such as Amazon and Google use these events to recruit large numbers of IIT students.

Strengthening the brand image

A strong brand image and innovative projects are important for a company to gain attention from IIT students. IIT students are attracted to companies that offer technical challenges and learning opportunities. This is especially why companies such as Apple and Tesla are receiving high interest from IIT students.

Proper compensation and career path

IIT graduates expect appropriate compensation and clear career paths that reflect their talents. For example, Microsoft is known for offering hefty starting salaries to IIT graduates. Offering a hefty salary, such as $100,000 to $150,000 (about 11 million -16.5 million yen), and matching benefits is key. We also bring out their ambience and skills by handing over high-level duties such as R & D and project lead early on.

Hackathons

“Hackathon” is a term coined by crossing “hacker” and “marathon” and is a competition in which engineers, designers, and others team up to develop a service in time according to a given theme and compete for quality. By holding a hackathon, it leads to the promotion of innovation and a factory of technical skills. Among the advantages held by companies is the discovery and recruitment of talent, which allows them to see not only the technical skills of the participants, but also their creativity, problem-solving skills and other abilities that they want to evaluate at the time of hiring.

As an example, flea market app Mercari made headlines through a hackathon when it recruited 29 students from the Indian Institute of Technology in 2018. Mercari initially had little recognition in the Indian market, but as it expanded overseas, it was eager to find talented people to lead its international offices. With a few IIT-educated employees already on board, we began preparing to recruit in India, and in October 2017, we conducted a hackathon targeting IIT and other prestigious universities to raise awareness. The hackathon eventually drew participation from 23 IITs and other leading universities, and the response was better than expected. We also conducted PR activities using corporate goods and T-shirts, and succeeded in hiring excellent students at the student job interview in December, winning the interview slot, which is allowed only for limited companies, along with Microsoft and Goldman Sachs.

Recruitment efforts did not stop there, but included providing a two-month Japanese language training program in India, respecting the family-oriented culture and inviting the families of potential recruits to a welcome party to ease their parents’ fears so that the new hires could start their lives in Japan smoothly. From finding a house to opening a bank account to signing a mobile phone contract, the system is carefully supported by companies. In addition, the company has introduced a “buddy system” in which each new employee is assigned a person who can consult with them about their everyday concerns outside of work. A “mentoring system” has existed for a long time to provide advice on business matters, but apparently the idea was taken as a way to reduce the anxiety of newly graduated employees about living in a different culture.

https://globe.asahi.com/article/14390207

IIT graduates are key to helping companies achieve future innovation and success, and their adoption requires proper strategy and preparation. I hope these tips and tricks will help companies effectively recruit IIT graduates and make the most of their skills and talents.

If you are interested in hiring students from the Indian Institutes of Technology(IIT) or foreign engineers, please make inquiries [https://beyond-t.jp/contact]