The Hindu Business Line : Recruiters learning the Javas and .Nets

CONTROL `F' (find) does not work in the recruitment industry any more. Increasing complexity of technology is catching up with recruiters in the industry too, forcing them into learning the ABCs of Java, VLSI, Oracle, C++, etc.

Placement firms specialising in IT recruitment today resemble a mini-software company with recruiters going through the basics of these technologies. In fact, some agencies have put in place stringent training programmes and blue books to guide their employees in the art of recruiting techies.

TeamLease Services, a temping and placement services firm, has brought out a guidebook (which is updated every quarter) for its employees.

Ms Nirupama V.G., Executive Vice-President, says: "Not only has this helped our recruiters compress recruitment time by 50 per cent, it gives a better shot-list (read that as better hit-ratio) to the client."

As a lot of time and effort gets invested in the recruitment process, it had better be fruitful, she adds.

TVA Infotech Pvt Ltd, a Bangalore-based tech recruitment firm, recruits and trains its `hiring people' in batches.

Mr Gautam Sinha, CEO, says: "Technology now is so vast and so deep that you need specialists to recruit these specialists."

TVA has put in place a three-month training programme that starts from the basics of software programming.

The programme is classified into eight modules and at the end of the training period the recruiters go through live assignments under the supervision of a trainer.

"Initially they are given smaller requirements, where technologies are not complex," says Mr Sinha.

For instance, Java is a vast subject with a lot of nuances and sub-technologies and TVA has specialists in all these niche areas.

Apart from a better hit-ratio, this kind of training also helps placement agencies detect falsehoods in resumes very easily. Software professionals known for fudging experience records were riding on the fact that recruiters were not as tech-savvy as they were. "This can no longer happen," says Ms Nirupama.

Mr Sunder Rajan, General Manager, HR, Infinite Computer Solutions, gives the client's perspective: "Most placement firm employees just see the caption skill-sets and take them for granted as fit ones."

In his opinion, at least 50 per cent of the candidates fielded must be a fit case for selection. He says that recruiters need to get training on the spread of the skill-sets, various technologies, emerging technologies and domains, various verticals in which the companies work, etc.

"They are unable to counter the bluffs and articulated games of the candidates. Hence, the credibility of some recruiters has become a question mark," he says.