Solutions / Campus Hiring
Find Talent Beyond the Brand Names
Every year, you screen thousands of campus applicants. Most get filtered by college name before you see what they can actually do. LayersRank evaluates capability, not credentials — finding diamonds in Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges while still identifying top IIT talent.
The campus hiring paradox
Campus hiring at scale creates an impossible situation.
You receive 15,000 applications for 200 graduate engineer positions. You have three weeks to make decisions before competing offers close your candidates. Your campus recruiting team has five people.
The math doesn't work. 15,000 applications. 5 recruiters. 15 working days. That's 200 applications per recruiter per day just to do initial review. Meaningful evaluation of each candidate? Impossible.
So you filter.
The easiest filter is college name. IITs, NITs, BITS, top state universities. Maybe 30 colleges make the cut. Suddenly 15,000 applications become 3,000. The math starts to work.
But here's what that filter costs you.
India produces 1.5 million engineering graduates annually. The IIT system produces about 16,000. By filtering to “top colleges,” you've eliminated 99% of the talent pool before evaluating a single person.
Within that 99%, there are candidates who would outperform your average IIT hire. They went to a lesser-known college because of family circumstances, geography, or a bad exam day at age 17. Their capability has nothing to do with their institution's brand.
The paradox: the filter that makes campus hiring manageable also makes it less effective.
A different approach to scale
LayersRank solves the scale problem without the pedigree filter.
Mass Assessment, Individual Evaluation
Send the LayersRank interview link to all 15,000 applicants. Not a select few — everyone who applied.
Candidates complete the assessment on their own time. No scheduling coordination. No campus visit logistics. No interviewer time consumed.
Within 48 hours of the application deadline, you have scored assessments for every candidate who completed the interview. Not resumes with college names. Actual evaluations of problem-solving ability, communication skills, and technical fundamentals.
Pedigree-Neutral Scoring
Our models evaluate responses, not credentials. They don't see college names, board exam scores, or CGPA. They see how candidates think, communicate, and solve problems.
A clear, structured response about debugging methodology scores the same whether it comes from IIT Bombay or a college you've never heard of.
This doesn't mean top college candidates score poorly. Many score well because they're genuinely capable. But it means capable candidates from lesser-known colleges aren't filtered out before they can demonstrate what they know.
Efficient Shortlisting
With scored assessments for thousands of candidates, shortlisting becomes straightforward.
Set your threshold: “Advance candidates scoring 70+ with confidence above 80%.” The system identifies who qualifies. You have your shortlist.
Want to ensure diversity across colleges? Filter by score within college tier. “Top 10% from Tier-1 colleges, top 5% from Tier-2 colleges, top 2% from Tier-3 colleges.” Whatever criteria match your goals.
The point is: you're making decisions based on demonstrated capability, supplemented by other factors you choose. Not the other way around.
What campus assessment includes
Graduate hiring requires evaluating potential, not just current knowledge.
Aptitude & Problem-Solving
Can they break down unfamiliar problems? Can they reason through scenarios they haven't seen before? These questions don't require specialized knowledge — they require thinking ability.
Sample question:
"A company's customer complaints increased 40% after a product update, but customer satisfaction scores remained unchanged. What might explain this, and how would you investigate?"
Technical Fundamentals
Do they understand core concepts in their domain? For engineering graduates: data structures, algorithms, databases, and system concepts — evaluated through explanation and reasoning, not just coding syntax.
Sample question:
"Explain why a hash table has O(1) average lookup time but O(n) worst case. When might you encounter the worst case, and how would you prevent it?"
Communication & Clarity
Can they express ideas clearly? Can they structure their thoughts? Can they explain technical concepts to different audiences? These skills predict success better than raw technical knowledge.
Sample question:
"Explain the concept of an API to someone who understands computers generally but hasn't done programming."
Learning Orientation
How do they respond to challenges? Do they have examples of teaching themselves new things? For graduates with limited experience, learning ability is more predictive than current knowledge.
Sample question:
"Tell me about something technical you taught yourself outside of your coursework. What motivated you to learn it, and how did you approach learning?"
Role Motivation
Why do they want this specific role at this specific company? Have they researched? Generic answers score lower than specific answers demonstrating genuine interest and understanding.
Sample question:
"What specifically attracted you to apply for this role versus other opportunities you're considering?"
Workflow
Campus hiring workflow
01
Broad Distribution
Distribute the assessment link widely. Post on college job boards. Share through placement cells. Include in all application confirmations. Works on mobile, supports low-bandwidth, can be paused and resumed.
02
Assessment Window
Give candidates 5-7 days to complete. This accommodates different schedules and ensures even candidates with limited internet access can find a window. Track completion rates by college.
03
Bulk Scoring
Within 24-48 hours of window closing, all assessments are scored. You receive score distributions, college breakdowns, shortlist based on your thresholds, and integrity flag lists.
04
Shortlist & Interview
Your shortlist is ready. Final interviews focus on fit, motivation, and verification rather than basic screening. You've already validated fundamentals.
05
Offer & Close
Move quickly on offers. Campus candidates have competing options and short decision windows. LayersRank reports support your offers with evidence of rigorous, fair evaluation.
The pedigree bias problem
Let's be direct about what pedigree filtering actually means.
When you filter for IIT/NIT/BITS, you're selecting for
- Performance on a high-stakes exam at age 17. JEE rank correlates with intelligence and preparation, but it's a single measurement taken on one or two days. Bad days happen. Health issues happen. Family crises happen.
- Access to coaching and preparation resources. JEE success correlates strongly with access to quality coaching, which correlates with family wealth and urban geography. You're partially filtering for socioeconomic background.
- Decision-making as a teenager. Some highly capable students chose different paths — engineering at a good regional college near family, a different field before switching to tech. Those decisions at 17 don't define capability at 21.
What pedigree filtering does not select for
- Ability to learn on the job. The problems graduates face at work don't appear in JEE prep.
- Communication and collaboration. These aren't measured in entrance exams.
- Persistence and work ethic. Showing up, completing work, and improving over time.
- Judgment and problem-solving. Real-world problems are ambiguous. Exams are structured.
The correlation between college prestige and job performance exists but weakens dramatically after the first year. By year two, where someone went to school matters far less than what they've demonstrated at work.
LayersRank lets you shortcut to that eventual truth: evaluate what candidates can actually do, not where they studied.
Results from campus programs
Large IT Services Company
Previous Approach
- Hiring target: 500 graduate engineers
- Filter to top 50 colleges, campus interviews
- Cost: ₹4,200 per hire (travel, logistics, interviewer time)
- Diversity: 89% from Tier-1 colleges
With LayersRank
- Assessment sent to all 12,000 applicants
- 8,400 completed (70% completion rate)
- 600 shortlisted based on score threshold
- 500 offers extended, 480 accepted
57%
Cost reduction (₹1,800/hire)
4 days
Time to shortlist (vs. 6 weeks)
34%
From Tier-2/3 colleges
Higher
First-year performance ratings
“We found exceptional candidates from colleges we'd never visited. Some of our best performers came from places we would have filtered out automatically.”
Product Company Campus Program
Previous Approach
- Hiring target: 80 graduate engineers
- On-campus at 8 target colleges
- Competing with larger offers at target colleges
- 800 applications received
With LayersRank
- Assessment opened to 200 colleges
- 3,200 applications received (4x increase)
- 2,100 completed assessments
- 80 offers to best scorers regardless of college
94%
Acceptance rate (vs. 68%)
Lower
Salary needed to close candidates
No difference
In first-year performance
“When you're not competing for the same 500 IIT grads as Google and Microsoft, you can actually close your offers.”
Handling campus logistics
Placement Cell Coordination
We provide materials for placement cells: overview documents, candidate FAQs, technical requirements. Placement officers distribute through their normal channels. College-specific tracking shows completion rates.
Assessment Windows & Deadlines
Configure windows that align with campus placement calendars. Run multiple windows or stagger by region. Automatic reminders go to candidates who haven't completed as deadlines approach.
Bulk Operations
Import candidate lists in bulk (CSV upload). Export results in bulk. Integrate with your campus hiring ATS. Everything is designed for thousands of candidates, not dozens.
Virtual Final Rounds
For candidates who pass assessment, final interviews can be virtual. No need to bring shortlisted candidates to office or send interviewers to campuses. Evaluate candidates at colleges you'd never visit.
Pricing
Campus pricing
Campus Volume Pricing
High volume at lower per-candidate investment.
| Volume (per season) | Per Assessment |
|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 | ₹500 |
| 1,001 – 5,000 | ₹350 |
| 5,001 – 15,000 | ₹250 |
| 15,000+ | Custom |
Campus Package
For structured campus programs
₹3,00,000
per campus season
- Up to 10,000 assessments
- Custom question configuration
- Dedicated support during assessment windows
- Analytics dashboard with college-level breakdowns
- Bulk operations and ATS integration
ROI Comparison
Traditional campus hiring cost
(travel, logistics, interviewer time)
₹3,000–5,000 per candidate screened
LayersRank campus hiring cost
₹250–500 per candidate screened
At 5,000 candidates, that's ₹1.25–2.5 crore in savings — before accounting for better hiring outcomes from pedigree-neutral evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
How do we ensure candidates don't cheat?
We track paste events, tab switches, and typing patterns. Suspicious behavior flags the assessment for review. For campus hiring specifically, integrity flags correlate with lower offer acceptance — so the problem partially self-selects out. For final-round candidates, you can verify depth in live conversation.
What about candidates with poor internet access?
Assessments work on mobile and support low-bandwidth mode. Candidates can pause and resume if connectivity drops. We've successfully run assessments in Tier-3 cities with limited infrastructure. For truly connectivity-limited situations, some organizations set up assessment centers at colleges where candidates can use campus computers.
Can we customize assessments for different roles?
Yes. Different engineering specializations (CS, ECE, mechanical, etc.) can have different question sets. Different target roles (development, QA, support, etc.) can be evaluated differently. Most campus programs use a common assessment for initial screening, then role-specific evaluation for shortlisted candidates.
How do we handle candidates who need accommodations?
Contact us before the assessment window. We can configure extended time, alternative formats, or other accommodations while maintaining evaluation validity.
What if our target colleges don't participate?
You can send the assessment link directly to applicants regardless of college participation. You don't need placement cell involvement — though it helps with completion rates.
Find the Talent Everyone Else Filters Out
Run your next campus program with capability-based evaluation. See who you've been missing.