Paytm Mall goes to colleges to unearth talent

The IITs and IIMs have traditionally provided the ideal talent pool for corporates as well as startups. But now the latter seem to be looking beyond these institutions; they want to unearth students with better skills and more knowledge. Little wonder the ‘unicorn’ startups are leading the way here.

Online marketplace Paytm Mall on Friday launched Campus Icon, a nation-wide programme to offer industry-focused learning to college students.

During the six-week programme, student participants will be assigned various tasks that are expected to enhance their skills. A press release by the company stated that Paytm Mall leadership will also mentor students on critical real-world techniques related to product, marketing, design, among others, via seminars and training material. Top performers of the programme would be awarded internships and full-time job offers at Paytm Mall, the release said.

Amit Sinha, Chief Operating Officer of Paytm Mall said, “Our initiative will provide a unique opportunity to college-goers to harness their skills from a young age and showcase their talent. Becoming innovative thinkers and developing creative solutions will help them achieve a stronger sense of leadership and adapt to the changing demands of the new-age workplace. This would also spark an entrepreneurial spirit among students as they develop a wide range of skills spanning multiple disciplines.”

Paytm Mall says it will also facilitate technology adoption in many areas as part of this programme, enabling students to buy laptops at discounted prices. They will reach out to more than 10,000 students from across colleges. Students can log on to campusicon.paytmmall.com and file their nominations till July 31, 2017.

Paytm Mall, valued at more than $1 billion, was launched in February. It has so far raised $177 million and $23 million, respectively, from Alibaba and SAIF Partners.

Incidentally, Gurgaon-based online marketplace ShopClues had also launched a similar initiative recently for students from top B-schools in the country.The CXO Next 2017 Challenge was aimed at finding promising business ideas and leaders who can execute them.

Participants had to make videos that explained their business idea/product for ShopClues across four major areas—operations, category, product, and marketing. The winners were given pre-placement interviews at ShopClues, and a chance to shadow the business head of their respective area for an entire week.