IT and consulting firm Cognizant hired more than 500 MBA students in India from the 2015 graduating batch, making it one of the largest hirers of B-school talent. In addition, the tech firm also hired several dozen MBAs from top-tier B-schools in Europe, West Asia and the Asia-Pacific region as well.
In the US, Cognizant recruited about 50 MBAs from nearly a dozen schools, which include prestigious institutions such as New York University, Georgetown University, University of Michigan and University of Texas, amongst others. Sriram Rajagopal, Vice-President, HR, Cognizant, says the firm makes it a point to hire from premier B-schools in whichever country it operates in.
India story
In India, Cognizant hired B-schoolers from the top IIMs, ISB, Jamnalal Bajaj, SP Jain and NMIMS, among a host of others. But, as Rajagopal points out, it’s not just hiring — the company has a strong industry-academia interface and partners with B-schools in providing a view of industry needs and wants.
“We collaborate with faculty of business schools and help them understand where the industry is headed. We also work with students. We deliver courses, and have guest faculty options as well. And B-schools are open to understanding what is relevant to the industry. Sure, the schools teach all the fundamentals, but they are also looking at electives to customise the curriculum and make it more industry-relevant,” he says.
He points to the example of the need for industry to quickly come up to speed in digital space. “But digital is a vast area; it encompasses a lot of things, ranging from data science and mobility to IoT (Internet of Things). A B-school curriculum won’t cover everything; some of it has to come from industry as well,” he adds.
About hiring
So, what qualities does a large-scale recruiter such as Cognizant seek from a fresh B-school graduate? As Rajagopal points out, the screening criterion has already been taken care of by a B-school, when it enrols a student.
“Over and above that, we look for good aptitude and adaptability to the Cognizant culture. There is a unique secret sauce that has made us successful; it’s all about customer focus, it’s all about empathising with a customer. That apart, we look for good communication skills, as we work with a global clientele and they need to be able to articulate their views. Third, we look for good EQ coupled with IQ, especially in our situation, where we are known to be exceptional in our customer focus. We need a good understanding of a client’s business and the challenges they face. One should be able to empathise with a customer,” explains Rajagopal.
Click to watch this video , where Sriram Rajagopal expounds more on hiring of MBAs and whether the current MBA curricula needs to be updated.