As an IT company, the key skills set that we look forward to would be analytical/problem solving and communication skills, along with an ability to learn. Subject matter expertise and technical depth in the area of study are critical. Programming skills for the vast majority of software roles or other functional and professional skills that are needed for other roles are necessary, but not sufficient.

We hire for inherent talent and train for domain, technology and functional skills. As the students keep working in different roles, they are continuously trained on technical skills and soft skills. We hire fresh talent from some of the best engineering and graduate colleges in the country. B-Schools form a key source of talent for us. We have a focused engagement program with premier top 20 B schools in the country that span across Wipro Limited. Talent from these institutes form a critical first rung in the leadership talent pipeline for us. For lateral hiring, we use Wipro careers website, employee referrals and portals, which give us significant sourcing support.

In terms of training, the large scale inductees undergo a program called the Project Readiness Program, which is of four phases viz. Corporate Readiness Program, Fundamental Readiness Program, Technology Readiness Program 1 &2, and Real Life Lab. These training modules help the inductees have an easy transition from campus to corporate life, gain basic orientation to technology, master a particular technology and get to work in a real time environment. Inductees also go through a two year STAR program, which includes job rotation and training. In some cases, the orientation program follows a longer time frame of 6 to 12 months of exposure through various functions, regions, etc., so that they get a complete perspective before they take on the actual role for which they were recruited.

The new recruits are trained by a mix of internal faculty and external development partners on Oracle, SAP, IBM, Microsoft, Teradata, etc. On an average it takes about 6 months for a fresher to become productive. We conduct assessments and use case studies from the real world to measure the effectiveness of our training initiatives.