Despite the ‘AI job-killer’ hype, campus recruitment in India is not disappearing; rather, it is being fundamentally redesigned. As skill requirements evolve, recruiters are moving beyond resumes and written tests toward problem-solving formats that assess how students think, build, and collaborate.
At Umagine TN 2026, Tamil Nadu’s flagship technology and innovation conference, D Ethirajan, centre head at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) Chennai, told AIM that traditional campus placements are giving way to multi-stage evaluation models anchored in real-world problem-solving.
Instead of visiting campuses directly, C-DAC now runs hackathons where students are given problem statements and evaluated on their solutions. Based on performance, the organisation shortlists top-performing colleges or student groups and proceeds with interviews.
“It becomes a test not just for students, but for colleges and universities as well,” Ethirajan said, adding that internships are also being announced as part of this approach to build early engagement with talent.
From the private sector, Nishanth S, regional lead for campus recruitment at IT services company Hexaware Technologies, said companies are increasingly blending conventional hiring with newer formats. While written tests and interviews continue, hackathons have become a key screening layer.
Explaining the process, Nishanth said students are first asked to define a problem statement, propose solutions, and then build a minimum viable product (MVP). Teams or colleges that demonstrate clarity of thinking and execution are taken forward in the hiring funnel.
Academia’s industry expectations, he said, are also being shaped through a “train-the-trainer” model, where companies work closely with faculty members to align curriculum and teaching methods with evolving industry needs.
Recruitment, Nishanth noted, is also becoming more experiential and culturally anchored.
In 2025, Hexaware organised a cricket match alongside a hackathon to drive engagement, as part of the Hexaware Premier League. “Cricket was chosen since our cultural brand ambassador is a famous cricketer,” he said, underscoring how companies are experimenting with formats to attract and motivate students.
Echoing the shift, Dilip Kumar Devanathan, senior vice president for engineering and R&D services at HCLTech, said traditional methods of evaluating students are steadily declining, with companies actively exploring newer assessment mechanisms.
However, Devanathan emphasised that campus hiring itself remains central to workforce planning. Companies, he said, will continue to visit colleges and universities, particularly when large-scale hiring is required.
He added that enterprises are willing to invest in innovation and these newer engagement models, and urged students to take advantage of the opportunities being created.Nishanth reinforced that view, stressing that campus recruitment will not be done away with. While formats may change, hiring at scale will continue to depend on campuses as a critical talent pipeline.
During a Umagine TN 2026 panel discussion titled ‘Tamil Nadu 2030: Building a Globally Competitive, Digital-First Services Ecosystem’, Prashant Dahalkar, senior vice president at Hexaware, said the company continues to offer internship opportunities as a way to assess the capabilities of students. He added that Hexaware remains committed to large-scale campus recruitment, even as hiring evaluations evolve.
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