Artificial Intelligence-based recruitment test: One in every 4 sails through

Chennai: One in every four engineering students appeared for state-level artificial intelligence (AI) based recruitment test qualified for the next round. Based on the performance in the test and interview, 534 students have received job offers from Cognizant, one of the IT majors which conducted the test.

For the first time, unsupervised Auto-Proctoring test was used for bulk recruitment by Cognizant. As part of Tamil Nadu State Level Placement Programme (TNSLPP), the test was conducted in two spells on January 21 and 23.

Totally, 10,017 students from more than 500 engineering colleges appeared for the online test and 2,781 of them qualified for interview.

“Such a big test went off without any technical glitch. The online test would be an integral part of the recruitment process in the coming years. The AI-based recruitment is beneficial to both students and recruiters as it reduces unnecessary travel,” said T.Thyagarajan, Director, Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC), Anna University.

During the online test, the company has given the 24-hour window on both the days to the students to take the test.

“Normally, a bulk recruitment process would take anywhere between two to three months with zone wise test and interview process. But, this test has considerably reduced the recruitment time from two months to one month,” he added.

After the interview, Cognizant selected 534 students and the selected students spread across the state.

Placement officials also expect the campus recruitment process to go completely digital very soon.

 “We expect the recruitment process to go completely digital in future. This year also some companies tried to conduct the face to face interview through online,” says T.Kalaiselvan, additional director of CUIC.

Anna University has publicised the dos and don’ts for students well before the online test.

Out of 10,000 students, only 22 students tried to outsmart the online exam which is very insignificant. They were detected and promptly disqualified.

It was observed students had opened another browser in their computer, used calculators and looked at their mobile phones while taking the exam.

Around 60 students who unnecessarily moved in front of the screen during the tests also were not allowed to continue their tests. “The students were given three notifications prior to shutting down their test screen. But, some of them were not aware of the dos and don’ts during the exam,” officials said.

Some students complained to the university that the features are hypersensitive and disqualified them for rolling eyeballs or for bending to take a paper or pen.

The 120-minutes long test tested the students’ aptitude, basic functional knowledge and their communication skills in English.