Cisco Systems India - Innovative Use of Technology in Human Resources

Name of Organization / Company: Cisco Systems Pvt Ltd
Category: Award for the Innovative Use of Technology in Human Resources > Computer Industries

Entry Title: Cisco Idea'thon – Between Dreams and Reality, there is a Bridge

Executive Summary:

Cisco Ideathon – 2 years in running, is a ground-breaking, innovative hiring program that takes Cisco recruitment program across India, covering 24 ( out of 28) states, 20,000 + students from 188 colleges in its latest edition. The program stands firmly to transform the traditional campus-oriented hiring and fuel a capability-based selection process powering an inclusive future for all.

Top talent existed across the country but was previously untapped owing to India's sheer geographical vastness, and the campus recruitment program simply did not have the scale. Enter Idea'thon – A unique partnership between internal arms of Cisco such as Networking Academy, University Recruiting, Marketing, Engineering, IT and Customer Experience (Centers & Acad) leveraging the unique capabilities of each organization to deliver never before results and impact - to Hire 141 fresh candidates, from 49 colleges through a completely virtual, rigorous evaluation tiding over the pandemic situation.

Challenge:

· Campus recruitment programs were limited in their reach because of the 'in-college' recruitment and could not scale up to reach 24 states, 200 + colleges and target 20,000 students.
· The ready-made talent pool of candidates well versed with Networking technologies and Cisco products were not available as part of campus recruitment.
· Combined with the pandemic situations, the need to be virtual in our campus recruitment while maintaining the rigor and quality in evaluation.

Opportunities

· Tap the unexplored talent pool India offers from its Hundreds of engineering colleges across the country where the typical campus recruitment process could not reach, making the Ideathon program highly geo-diverse.
· Leveraging Cisco Networking Academy (NetAcad) with an existing expansive student network across India undergoing Cisco networking curriculum, giving Idea'thon the ability to tap into millions of students who are already Cisco- aware.
· Strengthening Cisco's recognition as a hiring brand across the country and in numerous colleges, making Cisco an employer of choice.
· Walking the talk of – not only training students but also provide them an employment opportunity thereby bringing the Cisco Idea'thon to the attention of Trade bodies Such as NASCOM and state skill development agencies thereby opening up doors for more opportunities for Cisco.
· Lastly, significant savings in time, effort, and cost by not traveling to perform campus recruitment.

Actions Taken:

Design a virtual, rigorous challenge, offers enough insights to candidates and concludes with a virtual – "on-Camera" interview.

· The Challenge is broken down into 4 phases, Phase 1 being a Multiple-choice quiz testing on Networking, Software, and General Aptitude
· Phase 2 is an Innovation Challenge, where students submit a video response to innovation challenges that were in tune with the time (COVID, Innovations for Unorganized Business sectors)
· Phase 3 – a combination of competency assessment and a General Written-test
· Phase 4 – Virtual interviews
· Each phase was significant in itself by the sheer volume of candidates that went through Round 1 – 12,546 to 5500 Videos submitted in phase 2, requiring considerable effort and collaboration between the 100 + reviewers that reviewed 5500 videos in 8 days.

Resulting Impact:

To summarize, the program generated 141 bright candidates from 50 colleges that will join Cisco in January 2021 and will then undergo our internship program and graduate to full-time employees by July 2021.

The program achieved all its objectives of reaching across India's length and breadth, Hiring from Netacad enrolled colleges and students, driving the Cisco brand in the process. The program was also called out by State Governments, including the State Government of Odisha, for pioneering Skilling and hiring.

Files & Links:

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https://www.cisco.com/c/m/en_in/customer-experience-academy.html#~contest-details