In the late 1990s, MBA graduates made a beeline for consulting companies that offered the best ‘take-home’ packages. In the 2000s, the dotcoms ruled the roost on campus. The decade of 2010 saw e-commerce companies being preferred on campus. Now, it’s the turn of payment companies, popularly referred to as fintech.
Fintech companies continue to disrupt the banking and investment industry in a positive manner. The organisations leverage a variety of tech innovations, including artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and the cloud to better serve their customers. Demand for developers (blockchain and app developers), data analysts, cybersecurity specialists and UX/UI designers is increasing.
As per the ‘The Fintech Job Report 2021’, 225 of the largest fintech companies were offering around 40,000 jobs in India. The report further adds that jobs in fintech are ‘tech’ job’s more than ‘finance’ jobs.
In India, given the customer-centricity of the tech industry, the demand environment is extremely positive and many companies have announced aspirations to grow in double digits in the coming years. This sudden acceleration in demand has led to a war for digital talent.
But this talent also has to be resilient. Co-founder of Revolut, Nikolay Storonsky says:
“The fintech world has a high-pressure environment but certain types of employees thrive in such an environment. And I am amazed at the quality of talent in India. We are ‘the place to be’ for freshers looking to hone their skills and gain extensive experience.”
Global HR Business Partner, NIUM, Nupur Mehta says, “We are one of the fastest-growing Global Payments Companies in the world. We are always looking for people who can solve problems through simplicity, scale and speed.”
The fintech industry demands five skills, namely:
- In-depth knowledge of blockchain
- Top-notch coding skills
- Tolerance for numbers
- Cybersecurity expertise
- Communication skills
But because it’s a ‘sunrise industry,’ even internal stakeholders are still figuring out what skills they value in their workforce. Precisely because of this, an efficient employee onboarding process is key, so that employees feel empowered to bring out the best in themselves.
Ross Seychell, Chief People Officer at Transferwise says, “Organisations with a strong onboarding process improve new hire retention by 82% and productivity by over 70%.”
Numbers don’t lie — onboarding can make or break new joiners.
Fintechs are visiting India’s management school campuses to hire. Freshers can look forward to a challenging but rewarding journey that offers global exposure as well as peer-to-peer learning.