The qualities employers look for in students they recruit

the ability to work in a team, technical knowledge, dedication and leadership

The coronavirus pandemic had changed both the recruitment process, and the teaching methods used in higher education institutions. To have an objective and real view of the labor market, experts from Politehnica University Timișoara had spoken with recruiters about the skills future employees should have. On the other hand, companies with intense recruitment campaigns hire more people than they have space for in their offices.

Over the last two years, Romanian universities had abruptly began a process of changing teaching methods. There have been times when teaching had been carried out exclusively online, and, as the time passed, students slowly returned to amphitheaters and laboratories. The companies started to recruit young people who had done part of their studies online, and they look for most of the same skills they did before the pandemic.

“The companies in technical fields had always emphasized a student’s ability to work in a team but now they pay more attention to this skill. Online school made students learn on their own and work on group project via apps, so their social relationships were a bit hurt. The companies that recruit students integrate them into teams of experienced employees with the specific purpose of improving their teamwork. Furthermore, companies want students who are actively involved in volunteering projects, educational activities or who participate in hackathons.”, stated Florin Drăgan, the rector of Politehnica University Timișoara.

There were two categories of students had been learning online these past years: older students for whom going from an active campus life to being at home constantly had been a sudden shock, and first-year students who had started university with online education.

“The students in the first category no longer found motivation in interpersonal relationships, and their learning and working styles had changed. Before the pandemic, there were team projects, there was also a social aspect, and nowadays those were missing. However, the transition into the digital also highlighted some advantages. The most important one was that productivity of students and employees had increased. People became more focused on work, were more creative and some breaks had become productive time. Moreover, to integrate easily into the labor market, students need to have solid technical know-how, regardless of whether they have additional training at the workplace.”, declared Alexandru Luca, the student representative in the Administrative Board of Politehnica University Timișoara.

On the other hand, human resources specialists from IT or tech companies pay close attention to students’ adaptability, flexibility and self-learning capacity. These qualities were sought after even before the pandemic and had remained a constant demand in the recruitment process.

Companies had started to recruit more people than their office capacity

The majority of IT companies have a large number of employees who work from home and this trend born during the pandemic is here to stay even after the public health situation is no longer problematic. Current employees want to keep working from home or will wish to go to offices only one or two days a week. This had led to managers looking to expand their teams beyond the constraints set by the physical space companies had.

“We can talk about overcrowding in companies, but in a good way. Two years ago, IT companies in the west of the country needed more employees, but were limited by office space. Additionally, for one to be able to work somewhere, usually that meant the company had to have headquarters in their city or a close one. Nowadays that limitation no longer holds because most companies had implemented online or hybrid work systems such that there are no days when all the employees are in the office. That way, company costs had decreased and that way of working is preferred by both employees and many employers.”, stated Florin Drăgan, the rector of Politehnica University.

Currently, most of the IT companies in Timișoara also have staff from other counties who work from home, without being required to go to the company offices.