A recent study by HirePro, titled ‘Evolving Remote Campus Hiring Processes and Tools’, revealed that 59% of companies believe students are well-equipped with the necessary infrastructure to participate in virtual campus hiring. However, 53% of students do not have access to a broadband connection at home.

One in every four students owns two of the following devices: a desktop/laptop, a smartphone, or a tablet. A little more than a third of students do not have access to a power backup. This makes it important for companies to ensure that their virtual hiring tools support process continuity by preserving interview/assessment progress and allowing students to resume the process from where it was halted.

For campus recruitment, 95% of businesses rely on popular video conference tools rather than specific video interviewing software. When asked by employers to identify the areas that their hiring tool lacks, scheduling assessments and interviews came out on top (16%), followed by post-offer engagement, candidates' communication, identity verification, and dashboard (14%). In addition, roughly a third of businesses stated their virtual hiring toolkits don't have candidate impersonation detection skills, while another third was unsure. Their hiring toolbox detects impersonation, according to 40% of them.

Other findings:

• 60% of students own a desktop computer or a laptop to take virtual assessments. 1 in 4 students has any two from among desktop/laptop, smartphone and tablet. A little over a third of students do not have a power backup.
• 52% of students said they use a mobile hotspot to take online assessments and interviews. Employers that use virtual interviewing platforms/apps have more chances of successful interviews/assessments even when using the mobile hotspot as they are designed to work well with low bandwidth.
• 41% of students do not have a business laptop if they get selected in a campus recruitment event and the employer wants them to work remotely.

The top four suggestions shared by employers for successful participation in virtual campus recruitment included training and instructing students before assessments, providing buddy support, and ensuring a good internet connection.

Commenting on the scenario, S. Pasupathi, COO, HirePro said, “Last year, we saw organisations battling with remote campus hiring. Employers relied on makeshift solutions for assessments, interviews and onboarding of candidates. Remote campus hiring is here to stay, it's a process that predates the COVID-19 pandemic and became the only way to execute campus recruiting operations during the outbreak. As organisations are transforming their college hiring strategy by adopting a hybrid model for the future, our study aims to uncover the preparedness of both employers as well as students for the evolving virtual process. It provides practical insights into the processes involved in remote campus recruiting for both organisations and students or colleges/universities.”