Firms prefer foreign university graduates

Global companies prefer to hire graduates from foreign universities over those of Indian educational institutions, a survey said here Tuesday.

Released by the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, India Employability Survey 2014 said: "Graduates from foreign universities (39 percent) are deemed better prepared for the job than those from Indian universities (14 percent) and require lesser extensive training."

Besides, 41.6 percent firms rank American universities as either their top or their second choice, while 25.8 percent do so for universities in Britain.

Germany is a distant third, with 6.9 percent firms ranking it as one of their top two choices.

The research surveyed 200 foreign and Indian companies on ascertaining the attractiveness of Indian and foreign university graduates for employers on various parameters such as skill-set, availability and quality of talent pool and other parameters.

Speaking on the occasion, Rob Lynes, director, British Council India, said: "As organisations strive to compete and drive business growth in an increasingly global marketplace, they place significant importance on international education in the talent they recruit."

He added: "Hiring foreign-university graduates is an integral part of the talent plan for a large percentage of companies."