Career services teams in e-learning companies encounter numerous hurdles that hinder their learners' placement rates. Despite providing excellent training, many learners struggle to secure positions. This dilemma not only affects learner satisfaction but also impacts referrals and increases customer acquisition costs, which now consume 30% of their revenue. This situation poses a significant threat to the company's growth and sustainability, making it imperative to find a solution.

How do you get your learners placed?

After conversing with over 400 e-learning founders and placement managers, we've realized a significant reason why their learners struggle to secure placements: they simply aren't applying to a sufficient number of job opportunities. On average, learners are only applying to about 20 positions, whereas they should ideally target 200 or more applications.

We understand that aiming for over 200 applications might seem daunting, but in today's job market, with a surplus of applicants and a scarcity of job openings, it's a necessity for increasing their chances of success.

Why is it important to apply to so many jobs?( 200+)

Applying to over 200 jobs is crucial because the job market is highly competitive. Each major job board receives over 1000 applicants for every fresh job opening. Typically, recruiters only screen around 50 candidates and hire just one. Even in cases of bulk hiring, the ratio of applicants to hire remains low, between 2 and 5%. Simply put, securing a job is a numbers game. The more positions you apply for, the higher your chances of success.

For instance, if a learner applies to 200 jobs, they're likely to be screened for around 30% of them, or approximately 60 jobs. From these, they may receive interview calls for about 30 jobs. Although initial rejections are common due to nerves and a lack of interview experience, candidates improve with practice. After around 10 interviews, they become more comfortable and perform better, eventually receiving job offers from at least 2 of them. Therefore, applying to over 200 jobs significantly increases the probability of receiving interview calls and job offers.

How can learners apply to 200+ jobs?

Learners can apply to over 200 jobs through two primary methods:

1. Outreach by the Placement Team: This involves the placement team sourcing job opportunities and recommending them to learners.

2. Independent Applications for Market Jobs: Learners can directly apply to job openings available in the market without relying solely on the placement team.

However, it's notable that many Indian Ed-tech Placement teams predominantly focus on the jobs sourced by the company. This is often because learners insist on it, given they've invested in the training. However, this approach is counterproductive for learners as it limits their job prospects.

This trend is unique to India and needs to change. Learners must be encouraged to explore and apply to a broader range of job opportunities independently to enhance their chances of securing employment.

Global Sights

Based on insights gathered from conversations with over 120 international e-learning founders and placement managers and 400+ in India, a significant contrast in the approach to job seeking among learners is apparent:

Globally, Approximately 80% of learners in the e-learning sector secure jobs independently, while only 20% find employment through employers or jobs sourced by e-learning companies. This indicates a strong reliance on individual efforts in the global context.

India: The trend is reversed, with approximately 80% of placements facilitated by e-learning companies and only 20% through independent learner’s applications. This disproportionate reliance on e-learning efforts in India is not sustainable and calls for a shift towards a more balanced approach.

Why is over-reliance on e-learning-sourced jobs not a good idea?

Relying heavily on e-learning-sourced jobs, averaging around 150 per month, is not ideal. However, during the same period, there could be 5000–10,000+ jobs available in the open market. By solely depending on e-learning-sourced opportunities, learners miss out on approximately 90% of the job openings, limiting their prospects significantly.

Ed-tech companies often struggle to secure enough job opportunities due to manual job sourcing methods. Placement teams spend extensive time screening hundreds of jobs across various job boards, investing 5 to 6 hours daily in this process. Despite their efforts, the response rate from recruiters remains low, with only around 5% responding to outreach attempts. At such low response rate, they will need an army of placement officers to source 500+ jobs for 100 learners every batch. (How to increase response rate from employers in our next article)

Additionally, the manual approach leads to a narrow focus on just 5 to 7 mainstream job portals, neglecting approximately 40 other potential platforms. As a result, they miss out on roughly 90% of available job opportunities

So how do e-learning companies enable their learners to apply to 200 + jobs?

To enable their learners to apply to over 200 jobs, E-learning companies can implement the following solutions:

1. Encourage Applying to Market Jobs: Counsel learners on the importance of applying to industry jobs independently. Set this expectation at enrollment to ensure they understand the benefits.

2. Provide Job Application Training: Offer comprehensive training on job application techniques, including customizing resumes, highlighting strengths, and navigating Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) biases.

3. Offer Tools: Equip learners with tools to streamline their job search, such as Chrome extensions for auto-filling application forms, AI-powered resume and LinkedIn reviewers, and an automated job tracker. To boast makes it easier for them to apply for and track jobs.

4. Adopt Automated Job Sourcing Tools: Implement automated tools like AI Job Importer bots to broaden job opportunities beyond mainstream portals. This saves significant time, reducing the daily 6-hour job sourcing task to just 20–25 minutes, resulting in a 95% time- savings.

5. Gamify application: Gamify job applications with streaks, leaderboards, and challenges. Reward learners with extra credits for tasks like updating resumes and networking. Use virtual rewards and progress tracking to keep them engaged and motivated.

Conclusion:

By automating repetitive tasks and leveraging smart job sourcing techniques, placement teams can focus on higher-impact activities, such as providing personalized support to candidates and building stronger employer relationships, ultimately leading to better placement outcomes.