Fresher recruitment in India has been heavily metro-centric for decades. Cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi serve as the epicenters for talent acquisition, drawing job seekers and employers into a tight and fiercely competitive loop. However, with an expedited adoption of new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), the hiring dynamics are changing at an unprecedented pace. According to industry reports, 99% of hiring managers use AI to streamline and enhance the hiring process and 98% of them recorded significant improvements in hiring efficiency using AI.
The use of AI in hiring is helping companies discover good talent from all across the country, instead of limiting their search to Tier 1 cities and colleges. This shift is helping talent from Tier 2 and 3 colleges and cities to get discovered by top companies. Subsequently, it is creating a more inclusive, efficient and merit-driven hiring ecosystem.
Traditionally, fresher hiring outside the metros faced significant disadvantages including limited exposure to top recruiters and lack of access to training and visibility, overshadowing candidates from big-city institutions. This urban bias hinders the process of capitalising on opportunities for small town freshers while narrows down the candidate pool for employers.
With an accelerated digital transformation in the present world of work, companies are rethinking their approach of hiring by expanding geographically. By capitalising on AI-driven platforms, the companies are leading the charge by offering scalable and smart solutions to bridge the hiring divide in India.
Being recognised as one of the most unbiased technologies, AI in fresher hiring standardizes, scales and surfaces hidden talent. Its advanced algorithms can now assess candidates based on skills, aptitude and potential, irrespective of their location or brand value.
AI-powered HRTech platforms can parse through millions of resumes, analyse performance based on skill sets and conduct asynchronous video interviews. These tools use natural language processing (NLP), analysis of facial expressions and tone modulation to assess soft skills and communication capabilities objectively. This particularly benefits freshers who lack professional work experience or industry exposure but possess strong foundational skills.
This plays a pivotal role in ensuring that hiring decisions are less susceptible to human biases. For instance, the profile of a candidate from Ranchi is given a fair chance of being shortlisted than the one in Bengaluru or any other metro city, democratizing access to jobs like never before.
Exceptional talent does not confine to Tier 1 cities, especially in the era of AI recruitment. Recruiters are increasingly discovering the competitive engineering graduates from Tier 2 cities like Coimbatore, Bhubaneswar, or Nashik through AI backed assessments and intelligent filtering that brings the right candidate under the radar.
Additionally, AI integrated HRTech platforms also provide insights into a candidate’s learning agility, problem-solving abilities and culture fit traits that go beyond the conventional marks-based evaluations. This data-driven view of candidates allows companies to build more resilient and high-performing teams.
The use of AI in HRTech creates a phenomenal impact, making hiring easy, streamlined and unbiased. However, it also requires the need to address infrastructure gaps in smaller towns such as patchy internet or lack of digital awareness which affects the candidate’s performance during online assessments.
The widespread adoption of AI in HR processes also intensifies the need for policies around data security and privacy. We need to create a safe infrastructure to address vulnerabilities to data breaches and security. As recruiters continue to embed AI in recruitment and workforce management, there is a pressing need for comprehensive data governance frameworks to safeguard the rights of individuals in the hiring ecosystem.
The revolution in fresher hiring is underway. By utilising AI capabilities, talent managers are unlocking the potential of graduates outside the traditional urban hiring hubs, tapping the untapped talent and driving employment in emerging regions.
This shift benefits recruiters and has far reaching socio-economic implications. Subsequently, it reduces migration pressures, boosting local economies and giving young professionals the confidence to build careers without leaving their hometowns. As recruiters continue to embed AI in their recruitment lifecycle, the geographical boundaries of hiring will continue to blur, building a future of distributed, inclusive and intelligent hiring.
Authored by Rahul Veerwal, Founder & CEO, GetWork
[Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely of the author and Analytics Insight does not necessarily subscribe to it. Analytics Insight shall not be responsible for any damage caused to any person/organization directly or indirectly.]