Skills in demand: Coding Skills. Part (2 of 4)

This is the Part 2 of our 4 part series of articles on: Skills in demand. Read the pervious part here.

In the last article we talked about what external factors have pushed companies to consider Programming skills as a important selection criterion. However, internally too, companies are going through some major changes. We talked to some division heads and people at senior positions for some of the leading recruiters in India. And here are some eye-opening insights:

• Cost-cutting measures by the companies had its impact on the training costs. Companies are looking for technically initiated candidates who need little or no training.
• The days of inflated work-force are over. Companies want their recruits to get on to the project as soon as possible. There are continuing efforts to decrease the time to work desk.
• Using just aptitude as a basic assessment is not giving companies great success in recent years. Students seem to have mastered their way around this thanks to training partners, massive online resources and colleges. Any aptitude assessment doesn’t seem to surprise students anymore.

This is the scenario in most of the tech firms across the country. The external market trends combined with these internal factors at each of the companies has led to the increasing importance given to programming skills in the recruitment process.

So, what do companies mean by programming skills? Does this mean that non-CS/IT students will not be recruited at IT firms anymore?

Absolutely not.

Programming skills are a combination of 3 skills: Problem-solving skills, algorithmic skills & technical proficiency.

Previously, each of these skills was tested individually with problem-solving skills being tested through aptitude exams while algorithmic and technical proficiency was tested through interviews. Also, there was a belief that the technical proficiency can always be mastered with the training from the companies given the individual is good with the first 2 skills.

However, with training costs for companies coming down they are looking for candidates who are more technically initiated. Hence, it becomes important to train your students accordingly.

So, how can train your students to master these skills? Stay tuned for our next capsule of FACE Pulse.

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