Sweaty palms, last minute apprehensions, uncertainty, self-doubt and more is what newly-minted graduates usually face once they step out of colleges and into office boardrooms for their first-ever job interviews. As many deserving candidates lose out on jobs despite qualifications due to interview jitters, this summer, the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) has stepped up with a solution for its graduates – an AI-assisted digital smart interview platform.
A newly-launched initiative which has just completed its pilot run, in less than 15 days, over 3,000 students have already used the platform available on SPPU’s Degree Plus to prepare for upcoming interviews. And it not only helps candidates prepare for prospective HR interviews but even applies for jobs on candidate’s behalf by sending interview data to prospective employers. Currently the service is only available to PCMC students as the service was sponsored by the local corporation free of cost to its students but within a week, the service will be available to all SPPU students at a nominal fee.
A few months ago, SPPU had launched DegreePlus platform where several edutech companies and foreign universities including MIT, Harvard University, Simplilearn, AWS and more, are offering skill-based and certificate courses on a nominal cost. The new smart interview platform feature is going to be available next week onwards on the same DegreePlus platform. More than 300 companies have registered on the platform.
So how does it work? Apoorva Palkar, director, Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Linkages, SPPU who is overseeing the DegreePlus platform, said “The service is divided into two parts – first stage is the general interview. It has the basic interview questions which are auto-generated by a bot and the student has to answer them. The fresh graduates usually have no industry experience, they do not know what to expect in interviews and this step will be an introductory session for them,” she said.
Deepak Hardikar, chief education technology officer, SPPU said that students will be given scores based on stage 1 and those that cross a minimum threshold value can opt for stage 2, a video interview with HRs of the companies or industry to which they wish to apply. For example, an advertising graduate can pay for the service to set up video interviews with HR’s of advertising firms. The charge for the smart interview service as of now is likely to be Rs 150 per candidate.
Dr Nitin Karmalkar, vice-chancellor, SPPU said that the platform can help not only prepare for interviews but an AI-based assisted job search with potential employers viewing video interviews of candidates cutting both interview time and delays.
“The industry has their requirements ready and they have the job openings as well, the AI is helping to identify which candidates can fit in and where, reducing the time taken to search for the right candidates. Similarly for students, one level of interview is already done so the time taken for clearing final rounds and landing a job is shorter,” he said.
🗞 Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access our in-depth reporting, explainers and opinions 🗞️
For all the latest Pune News, download Indian Express App.
Alifiya Khan<div dir="auto"> <div dir="auto">Alifiya Khan is an Assistant Editor … read more
