COVID-19 ventured India right at the academic year-end of 2020. It not just affected the examination but has halted the student's career especially, the ones who were in their final year all set, to begin with, their internship, or looking forward to taking up their dream job. Now, after spending several months battling with the disastrous pandemic we have made up our mind to embrace the new normal. But, how would the colleges deal with the all-new placement process? Colleges already had a tough competition in attracting the companies as well as getting the student job-ready.

Despite all the obstacles, the universities and colleges across the country have left no stone unturned to get their students placed across various reputed organizations. Yet, the economic slowdown due to the coronavirus has not even spared the country's top business schools. According to reports, about six job offers have been revoked from the Indian Institute of Management - Calcutta (IIM-C). Also, few recruiters have revoked their internship programs that have affected 12 out of 480 students.

As told to PTI by Abhishek Goel, IIM-C Placement Committee Chairperson, said, "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the global headquarter of one recruiter has rescinded six job offers. One startup has communicated business difficulties, but our latest information is that its job offers to our students are firm."

Hiring Vs Layoffs
However, the crashing economy has forced the organizations to put their hiring on hold, as the laying of their existing employees itself was inevitable to retain the company's financial status. According to KPMG India's survey reports, COVID-19's impact has resulted in 66 percent of organizations have suspended their hiring schedule while 30 percent have cut down their hiring headcount budget.

Besides these ongoing challenges, few companies have transformed their interview process to fit into the present strenuous situation. Many recruiters have opted out to the virtual interview format and are proceeding with their hiring strategies. However, it is been noted that about 32 percent of organizations lack facilities to provide work from home options to their employees while only 25 percent of organizations had a strong IT infrastructure to continue to work even during the pandemic says KPMG's survey report.

New Hiring Process for New Normal
Though the country is slowly releasing the lockdown, it is quite a tough task for organizations to conduct regular interviews while being conscious about their social distancing. Thus, the organizations have leveraged technology and gone virtual for the hiring process. Companies have upgraded their arsenal with online assessment tools to bring down the dependency on personal visits for the initial step of interviews such as sourcing and screening.

For the actual interview rounds that demand interaction with candidates, the companies have adopted teleconferencing technologies, and few other organizations that follow suit have been indulging in virtual interaction through video conferencing. Through these measures, companies have been concluding their interview process.

Post the hiring, the traditional onboarding procedures have also gone virtual and has enabled the organizations to digitally onboard and engage the candidates. Lately, it is also been noted that many organizations have been embracing chatbots to enhance their performance.

Measures for Colleges to Make their Students Job Ready Post COVID-19
During the pandemic, institutions have adopted online classes and have continued coaching their students on regular subjects. While some colleges are conducting webinars through which they could connect their students with the subject experts to give them industry insides. Furthermore, placement coordinators could also get in touch with the college's old student as well as invite the company executive to address the students and give them a gist of the present corporate scenario to get them industry-ready.

Anju Seth, Director, IIM-C told PTI, "The institution would change the academic calendar for various programs and also taken various measures." She further added, "We have also expedited a successful transition to new models of online teaching in our programs. We are watching the emergent situation closely and are ready with action plans for various scenarios to facilitate effective outcomes."