Flipkart hires without interviews
Flipkart on Thursday announced a partnership with Udacity, an online learning company to hire graduates based on capabilities they have built through Udacity’s Nanodegree programs.
This move showcases how organisations such as Flipkart are opening opportunities to graduates who have built expertise through online education platforms such as Udacity.
Breaking away from convention, Flipkart hired students based on their Nanodegree projects and Udacity profiles.
There were no in-person interview or group exercises. This “interview-less hiring” approach enabled Flipkart to hire talent swiftly, shortening the hiring process and giving it an edge in the hunt for talented professionals.
The three graduates hired have already started working at Flipkart with the mobile development team. These graduates of Udacity’s Android Developer Nanodegree moved from New Delhi to Bengaluru. They are the first ones to join the team and both companies expect more to follow.
Peeyush Ranjan, chief technology officer, Flipkart, said, “The kind of disruptive work that we do at Flipkart demands a world-class talent pool and we are constantly on the lookout for experts who can solve the problems of Indian consumers.”
“The conventional hiring process often comes down to the performance of the candidate on that specific day, which may not be a true reflection of their skills and temperament. This is where a partner like Udacity comes into the picture,” he said.
“Flipkart is one of the most innovative companies in the way it approaches the market,” said Sebastian Thrun, co-founder and CEO of Udacity.
“Our goal is to have our Nanodegree graduates be in demand for the jobs of today, like mobile, data analyst, web development and machine learning among others. We are thrilled to work with Flipkart on this program and look forward to deepening our collaboration.”
India’s mobile economy is rapidly growing with talented developers in short supply. Today, the country has between 50,000 to 70,000 developers and is expected to need 20 million by the year 2020 (Internet & Mobile Association of India). Android is the fastest growing mobile platform with companies battling to hire talented developers who are up-to-date on the latest Android technology and bring a fresh perspective to the product.
Udacity, an online learning company, is on a mission to democratize education by giving individuals the skills they need to get the jobs they want to advance their economic potential. Today, the company has over four million students in 168 countries.
Udacity’s Nanodegree programs are built by companies such as Google, Facebook, Cloudera and Amazon among others, bringing the latest technical knowledge to students anywhere in the world. Nanodegree graduates have launched new careers at companies like Google, AT&T Intuit, Goldman Sachs, Nest and Flipkart.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, the company has raised $163 million from marquee global investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford, Bertelsmann, Charles River Ventures, Cox Enterprises, CRV, Emerson Collective, Google Ventures, Recruit Holdings and Valor Capital Group.