Rohit Sharma, Partners at Head HR Foundation and Bayer India shared insights with Career 360 on the real-life challenges and areas of improvement faced by freshmen during their recruitment. He also spoke about the job market, the importance of upskills, curriculum adjustments, and the recruitment process. Edited excerpt:
How do you think the fresh graduate job market will evolve over the next 3-5 years?
India's fresher job market in 2025 has experienced strong growth and transformation with significant growth and transformation, with opportunities in both the high-tech and non-technology sectors. Fresh employment has increased 11% year-on-year, especially in areas such as hospitality, oil and gas, healthcare, media and e-commerce. Startups play an important role in job creation. Demand for the roles of AI, machine learning, data science and cybersecurity has skyrocketed, with IT companies prioritizing candidates skilled in cloud computing and automation. Employment trends change from academic degrees to practical skills, with practical expertise in fields such as robotics and data visualization gaining value.
Gig and project-based roles are also increasing. However, skills gaps remain a major challenge, especially in the role of advanced technology.
What are the most important skills that fresh alumni lack?
Today's employers prioritize skills beyond their degrees. However, many fresh alumni lack essential soft and technical skills. Despite academic achievement, they often rely on theory, which makes them suffer from real-world problem-solving and critical thinking. Demand digital skills such as AI, cybersecurity, and machine learning are rarely taught effectively as university curricula lags behind industry needs. There is also a lack of adaptability. Furthermore, teamwork, project collaboration and communication skills are underdeveloped. Time management and organizational capabilities are generally lacking.
As many graduates with no internships or practical training, there is also a major gap between academic learning and practical industry experience. This disconnect highlights the need for an institution to better prepare students with real-world skills consistent with evolving job market expectations.
How important is it to be skilled for early career professionals? What should they focus on?
I always recommend that they only focus on their first two years of study. This period is important to build a strong foundation that is essential for long-term career growth.
Skill development is essential. Both technical and soft skills need to be continuously improved through practical work and active observation. Gaining real-world experience through projects and volunteering can help you hone your skills and demonstrate your initiative. Equally important is career research and goal setting. It helps you explore a variety of industries and roles, adjust your work with personal benefits, and set clear goals. Build a powerful career toolkit, such as a tailored resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile, and more, and improve your visibility. Finally, professionalism and right attitudes – openness to feedback, enthusiasm for learning, resilience – play a key role.
How well do you think the Indian academic curriculum fits the evolving needs of the industry?
There remains a major disconnect between academic programs and industry expectations. This gap is largely due to outdated curriculum, limited practical exposure, and strict institutional systems that struggle to adapt to change.
Many Indian universities, particularly government universities, still prioritized theoretical learning over practical applications, and graduates were not prepared for real roles. Syllabus updates are slow and lack of input from industry experts, eliminating the new technologies, essential practices and soft skills that employers demand. Additionally, experiential learning opportunities such as internships, industry projects, and practical labs are limited. Teachers often lack industry experience and access to modern training programs.
While some top and private institutions have progressed, most universities have fallen behind. Systematic reforms rooted in stronger industry and Asademia partnerships, frequent curriculum updates, and focus on employment possibilities are essential to fill this broad gap.
Have you observed a decrease or change in recruitment patterns on campus? What is the reason why you are promoting this?
This is due to a combination of economic, technical, educational and organizational factors. The aftermath of the pandemic, geopolitical tensions, and global economic uncertainty, supported by sector-specific slowdowns, has led businesses to adopt careful employment strategies such as freezing and declining intakes. As a result, there are fewer entry-level opportunities available through campus placement.
The key contributors to this decline are the sustained skills gap and mistakes between university curriculum and industry needs. Many graduates lack practical expertise in high demand areas such as cloud computing, data analytics, and AI, which reduces employment potential. Furthermore, technology disruptions have automated many routine tasks, encouraging businesses to prioritize employment candidates with more specialized skills than traditional fresh roles.
Recruitment practices have also evolved. Currently, businesses favor virtual recruitment platforms, online ratings, hackathons and referral-based methods over Mascan Pass Drive. Institutions that have failed to update their curriculum or build industry partnerships have shown a sharper decline in placement rates.
What are some common mistakes freshmen make in the first few months of employment?
While many institutes offer interview preparation sessions for final year students, in my experience the responses students give during interviews are often vague and common, and detached from actual industry expectations.
During recruitment, some common mistakes hinder the fresh one. The main one is inadequate research on the company. Communication is another hurdle. You don't use filler words or look nervous. Instead of using a structured form, many candidates provide general answers. Not asking questions during the interview is another missed opportunity.
When hired, freshmen are often hesitant to ask questions and fear that they may appear incompetent. However, seeking clarity is appreciated. Ignoring workplace culture, overreducing it, or failing to network can affect growth. Getting personal feedback, managing time, acting casually, or being overconfident are other common pitfalls.
What important traits and abilities make your freshness stand out during the hiring process?
When organizations hire fresh people, they don't expect them to have ready-made solutions to real-world problems. Instead, they look for candidates who understand what they were taught and have made an effort to explore their practical application.
The key of these is that you can learn quickly. Adaptability is equally important, especially in today's rapidly changing technological and business environments. Obtain accountability or ownership of assigned tasks, signal reliability, and initiatives. Strong communication skills help you express your clarity and collaborate. Solution-oriented thinking, or problem-solving attitude, indicates resilience and constructive thinking.
Other valuable traits include working well with teams, showing confidence without arrogance, maintaining a positive attitude, and being honest about your skills and experiences. During interviews, employers often assess these qualities through behavioral or competency-based questions.
Do you have any advice for the institution?
Educational institutions play a pivotal role in filling the gap between academic learning and organizational expectations. To achieve this, they must adopt a strategic and practical approach to education tailoring the evolving demands of the workforce.
One important strategy is to coordinate the curriculum with industry needs. Institutions should regularly update their programs to include both technical and soft skills. Embedded skill-based and experiential learning are equally important. Integrating internships, apprentices, and live projects into the curriculum allows students to apply classroom theory in practical contexts and promote job-responsive capabilities.
Institutions should also employ problem-based learning methods that cultivate critical thinking, decision-making and innovation. Finally, collecting ongoing feedback from graduates and employers ensures that the programme is responding and highly relevant. This alignment ultimately promotes employability, productivity, and success for both individuals and organizations.
This work first appeared in the 200th issue of Careers360 Magazine, released in August 2025.
