12/25/2016 TheCuriousCaseOfIndia'sTechTalent

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The Curious Case Of India's

Tech Talent
HIRING (http://blog.hackerearth.com/hiring/)
December5,2015

Did you know there exists a global study, where five of the top ten spots are filled by
India? You heard that right! A recent LinkedIn study tracked the movement of tech
talent across the globe and found that Bangalore grows tech talent faster than other
city in the world. Thanks to a burgeoning base of startups, Bangalore has stepped
out of the shadow of its widely-used 'Silicon Valley of India' sobriquet and
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leapfrogged the US as a beehive of tech talent. Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai and

Gurgaon followed the leader closely on the list. Though it is hardly a surprise to
anybody anymore, these findings re-affirm the fact that India is home to the biggest
pool of technology talent.

Despite this abundance of talent, Indian companies, especially startups, are still
clamouring for coders that to meet their fast-paced business needs. They claim that
a shortage of skilled workers in the industry has resulted in skyrocketing wages
and a dampener on expansion plans. At first blush, none of it adds up; how can one
explain the dearth of tech talent in the mothership despite it still being the hub of
technology services outsourcing? Well, much ink has been spilled on the debate
and as you would have observed, the ecosystem is divided on the verdict.

Have we thrown in the towel too early?

Here's our take - There's enough of tech talent to go around, and excellent ones at
that. So it may be too premature to write this quest off as a wild goose chase. It is
true that great developers with superior skill sets and a great cultural fit to the
organization are rare to come by. Having said that, we must not be hasty to think of
them as unicorns. Perhaps we need to re-jig the very definition of 'tech talent'
altogether.

During my tenure at HackerEarth, I have come to believe that if you expect to

harvest the best tech talent and retain them, you will have to veer off the beaten
path.

1. Look in uncanny places

One of the lesser-known reasons that the best brains in the business are still at
large is the heavy emphasis on pedigree. Without undermining the importance of
formal education, we can safely say that it is no longer the deal-breaker it once
used to be. Today, the technology industry collectively struggles with filling up
positions fast enough to deliver projects that make a real business impact. The only
programmers who can live up to that expectation are those that have hands-on
experience rather than just a Computer Science or Information Technology degree
from a premier institute.

India spews a whopping 1.5 million engineers annually but 20-33% of them, are
struggling with getting placed. As a result, they often they turn to jobs that they are
under-qualified for. These engineers could well be the unpolished diamonds that

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aren't cut out for recruitment interviews. The scenario is naturally more
challenging for students from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Clearly, traditional campus
recruitments do them little justice and is in dire need of a facelift. The best-kept
secrets of tech talent are no longer hidden only in paper-and-pen resumes and job
portals. From our experience, we have seen youth from humble backgrounds in
small towns possessing greater technical prowess than their well-heeled
counterparts with more experience. Apart from social media and anecdotal
referrals, they emerge from online hiring platforms that test their expertise vis-a-
vis their peers. Coding bootcamps and hackathons are not only fun and
collaborative; they are unconventional platforms that are turning the spotlight on
skill rather than merely on educational qualifications. Through this gamification of
sorts, companies are equipped with rich analytics and intelligent ranking and
better poised to make hiring decisions based on merit.

2. Fix the gender gap

Although India witnesses a higher influx of female talent in the technology

ecosystem, than its counterpart in Silicon Valley, we still have miles to go.
According to a 2015 report by McKinsey & Co., India has the greatest shot at a
substantial incremental GDP opportunity, if gender parity is achieved. This could
mean an increase of 16% in the country's GDP by 2025. Today, 30% of engineering
graduates in the country are women and even the best of them shy away from
technology entrepreneurship. The time has come for companies to cast their nets
wider, identify women with great technical prowess and nurture them to become
the leaders of tomorrow.

3. Find the sweet spot

Gone are the days when every candidate was satisfied with a well-defined career
path and satisfactory increments in their salaries. In the quest for tech talent,
recruiters can no longer be Procrustean in their approach. A little bit of research
into their motivators goes a long way in finding that 'sweet spot' that presents both
parties a clear win-win situation. Studies now show that each category of
applicants put different perks on top of their priority lists. For instance, men are
shown to be drawn towards excellent compensation and benefits, challenging work
and good organizational culture. However, women, on the other hand, prefer a good
work-life balance, cordial relationships with peers and flexible work arrangements.
In short, the talent you consciously pursue is the talent you will get.

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Conclusion

It may seem expensive in the short-term, but 'the right people' are a worthy
investment that is sure to give businesses an edge in a competitive market. The
way we see it, the buck must not stop there. The Indian tech market is witnessing
exponential growth and the need of the hour is a disruption in the recruitment
scenario. One of the challenges we see to the goal of bridging the talent gap is the
lack of scalability. The technology sector in the country is fairly young and the
higher rungs of the career ladder is feeling the pinch. The way forward is to
encourage and nurture the new breed of tech talent for the years to come. Who
knows, someday the needles won't be too deep in the haystack.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

RaghuMohan(Http://Blog.Hackerearth.Com/Author/Raghu/?Post)
RaghuisanengineeringgradhandlesMarketingatHackerEarth.Priorto
this,hewasaneditoratYourStory.com.Whenhesnotworking,youcan
findhimatthenearestmusicshophavingajamsession.

AUTHOR POST

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12/25/2016 TheCuriousCaseOfIndia'sTechTalent

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2016/01/podcastbigdataatbigbankswithsachingargheadof
bigdatalabsamericanexpress.html)

[PODCAST] BIG DATA AT BIG BANKS, WITH DR. SACHIN GARG, HEAD OF BIG DATA LABS,
AMERICAN EXPRESS
(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2016/01/podcast-big-data-at-big-banks-with-sachin-garg-
head-of-big-data-labs-american-express.html)B I G D A T A
(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/BIGDATA/)
Jan5,2016

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/gettingstartedwithmachinelearning/)

GETTING STARTED WITH MACHINE LEARNING

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/getting-started-with-machine-learning/)M A C H I N E
LEARNING(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/MACHINE
LEARNING/)
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Jan4,2016

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/12/hiringonhackerearthnovember.html)

HIRING ON HACKEREARTH: NOVEMBER

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/12/hiring-on-hackerearth-november.html)H I R I N G
(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/HIRING/)
Dec7,2015

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12/25/2016 TheCuriousCaseOfIndia'sTechTalent

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/12/thecuriouscaseofindiastechtalent.html)

THE CURIOUS CASE OF INDIA'S TECH TALENT

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/12/the-curious-case-of-indias-tech-talent.html)
HIRING(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/HIRING/)
Dec5,2015

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/11/nandannilekaniwasathackerearthanditwas
awesome.html)

NANDAN NILEKANI WAS AT HACKEREARTH... AND IT WAS AWESOME.

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/11/nandan-nilekani-was-at-hackerearth-and-it-was-
http://blog.hackerearth.com/2015/12/thecuriouscaseofindiastechtalent.html/ 7/12
12/25/2016 TheCuriousCaseOfIndia'sTechTalent

awesome.html)C O M M U N I T Y
(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/COMMUNITY/)
Nov23,2015

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/thebotsofwallstreet/)

THE BOTS OF WALL STREET

(http://blog.hackerearth.com/the-bots-of-wall-street/)A L G O R I T H M S
(HTTP://BLOG.HACKEREARTH.COM/ALGORITHMS/)
Nov18,2015

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