How SVEC leveraged Recruit to increase its campus placements by 30%
About Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College (SVEC)
Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College was established in 1996 with an initial intake of 180 students to serve the cause of technical education. The college now offers 8 B.Tech programs, 8 M.Tech programs, an MCA Program, and 3 doctoral programs. Today, Sree Vidyanikethan Engineering College is one of the largest and most sought-after institutions in Andhra Pradesh. The college is known for its quality initiatives, and this is amply reflected in accreditations by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) for UG & PG programmes, National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with ‘A’ Grade, and many multinational organizations such as TCS, WIPRO, and IBM.
SVEC had opted for the following with HackerEarth
- Coding challenges
- Placement series
- Technical learning materials
- Comprehensive reports on student performance
- Newsletter
How were programming challenges conducted prior to using Recruit?
In-house programming tests
Prior to using Recruit, technical skills of students were tested through lab practicals. Since these in-house tests were a part of the curriculum, they missed incorporating the latest tech skills that organizations were looking for. Also, most students knew what they would be tested on as the assessments had remained unchanged for a long time. This made getting an accurate picture of their tech acumen a challenge, and the students were not exposed to current concepts or relevant programming questions.
Tracking and assessing students’ performance
It was very difficult for the college administration to filter out students who needed extra practice to ace job interviews. There was also no reporting system in place for professors to get real-time data of a student’s performance.
How was this impacting placements at the university?
With more and more companies emphasizing skill-based recruitment, students felt that the curriculum was not designed well enough to prep them adequately for relevant career opportunities in the future. Companies that visited the campus discerned a significant skill gap — contrary to expectations, the students were not up to date with new concepts or tools integral to an ever-changing job market.
What difference did Recruit make?
Coding challenges
The coding challenges on Recruit allowed students to test their skills in over 30+ programming languages. These tests were created keeping in mind the current company standards for technical recruitment. Students in any semester of the 4-year program, and across different engineering streams, could take tests to see where exactly they stand relative to their peers. Also, student from non-software streams looking to get software jobs could take tests to strengthen their basics and prepare better for interviews. Recruit has also helped to keep students interested and engaged in topics related to software engineering.
SVEC has a total of 6000 students spread across all four years of engineering of which 1500 students currently use Recruit for technical assessment.
Students are very active when it comes to participation. We have gradually seen an improvement in their tech skills as they code. The quality of the problem sets and the platform is exceptional.
Nagaraju Rayapati,
Professor, SVEC
Training with HackerEarth’s placement series
HackerEarth runs a special placement series with SVEC to help students prepare better for technical assessments and interviews. This is a 4-month program targeting students looking to get into software companies. When compared with previous years’ placements, 30% more students got jobs in 2018. Also, students from non-tech streams such as EEE, EIE, and Mechanical engineering got chosen for good roles at software firms. This year, students were able to successfully crack programming challenges by companies such as CTS, TCS, Infosys, EPAM, etc.
Role of HackerEarth’s learning materials and newsletters
I love coding on the platform. It’s great to use both the platform and the learning materials. They make my job very simple. Most of the time, I use HackerEarth as my IDE to code anything.
Praveen Kumar Reddy,
Student
Tracking and assessing students via real-time dashboards
HackerEarth’s real-time dashboard helps professors keep a track of students’ performance every day. Professors at SVEC find the reports and dashboards helpful during the placement season as they help them identify students who are falling behind in tests and provide special coaching for such students. Special attention is paid to students who scored less than 40%, and tests are customized to help them grasp technical concepts better and translate them into coding. This way, no student gets left behind, and students are more confident to take on job interviews.
How was the experience with HackerEarth?
In just over a year of using the platform, both the students and the faculty have seen tremendous improvements in the overall performance. The entire process of evaluation is streamlined to let professors keep a track of students’ performance while equipping them with skills necessary to perform well in real-life tech roles.
SVEC is highly satisfied with the platform. HackerEarth Recruit is a must need for every college looking to improve the technical acumen of its students.
Nagaraju Rayapati,
Professor, SVEC