The trap of overemphasizing top universities that is often encountered in hiring in India.
Many Japanese companies limit their hiring to top universities such as IIT/NIT, but this can be a "strategic pitfall" that lowers the success rate of hiring. I will explain the reasons for this.
Contents
The reason why Japanese companies tend to prioritize top universities
One of the first things that come up when consulting on hiring in India is prestigious engineering universities such as IIT and NIT. They are well-known in Japan as well, and the strong image of "India = IIT" makes it easier for recruiters to explain within the company.
However, from the perspective of local HR experts, the reality is that IIT is merely a small portion of the Indian talent market. This means that from the start, you will be targeting an extremely small segment of the overall population.
The reality is that IIT and NIT make up only 0.5% to 1% of all students.
In India, more than 8 million people graduate from university each year, but students belonging to IIT and NIT make up less than 1%.
In other words, if you target only top universities, you are excluding 99% of the talented individuals right from the start.
Furthermore, many IIT students have
admissions to universities in the West
extremely high offers from companies like Google and Meta
recruitment from companies in the Middle East and Europe
and have career options that Japanese companies find difficult to compete for.
Top university layers compete with Google, Meta, and foreign manufacturers.
The starting salary for IIT graduates can reach several million to tens of millions of yen.
Competitors are world-class companies such as GAFA, foreign consulting firms, and European manufacturing industries.
This group values "salary, growth opportunities, and globality," making it a reality that it is difficult to compete with the value offered by Japanese companies.
In fact, the high-achieving group is widely distributed in Tier 2 to Tier 3.
In India, the base of engineering education is very broad, and there are many students with high practical skills even in Tier 2 universities. In particular, major engineering colleges in South India are highly regarded by American and European companies.
Representative examples:
VIT (Vellore Institute of Technology)
SRM Institute of Science & Technology
PES University
Anna University
These universities have
students who possess characteristics of future talent, such as winning hackathons, continuous updates on GitHub, long-term internships, and a desire to learn both English and Japanese
.
The global hiring trend is shifting from "university name" to "skills assessment."
In IT companies in the United States and Europe, there is almost no university name filter, and the hiring criteria are
Project Achievements
Coding Tests
Technical Blogs / Outputs
Intern Evaluation
is the main focus.
According to the common understanding of local HR,
“There is no simple correlation that 'IIT performs well' or 'Tier 2 is weak' ”
is the reality.
Practical steps to break away from an overemphasis on university brands
Successful Japanese companies are creating recruitment strategies as follows.
Articulating necessary skills (evaluating based on job requirements rather than university names)
Understanding strong departments or labs at Tier 2-3 universities
Prioritizing those who have learned Japanese or are highly motivated
Quantitatively assessing abilities using GitHub / internship history
Conducting pre-screening with local partners
This approach significantly improves recruitment costs, speed, and matching accuracy.
Summary
The emphasis on top-tier universities tends to lower the hiring efficiency due to the small size of the pool and the intensity of competition.
On the other hand, Tier 2 to 3 universities have a wide distribution of students with practical skills and a high willingness to learn, which tends to align well with Japanese companies.
At Phinx, through collaboration with the Southern India Institute of Technology, the Japanese language learner network, and local universities, we are strictly introducing only students that meet your company's requirements. Companies that want to advance "hiring based on capability" without being bound by university names are encouraged to consult with us.
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