4 Reasons Why Startups Are Successful In Attracting Graduates In India "Graduates should be wary of the word Unicorn"

With the ongoing spat between the IIM authorities and Indian unicorn Flipkart, it clearly shows how the Indian institution is unhappy with the company. IIM and IIT graduates have recently developed a soft corner for Indian startups, where everyone in this space wants to work with a unicorn today.

Joby Joseph , founder & CEO of Freshersworld.com, which helps startups with their hiring process, tells us why students these days are attracted towards the startup ecosystem.

So working in startups is the new dream for graduates coming out of colleges. While the recent government push with Startup India has received mixed responses, but what it did successfully was to get the word "startup" into the ever growing dictionary of the common man. That's a positive thing for many graduates who would like to work in a startup but are unable to do so because of society pressure of working in a known company.

Startups thanks to media support have been catapulted to great heights and the same media has brought them down too. A funded startup is not always successful. In-fact 90% of funded startups are yet to show a positive cash flow. The concentration put on funding news rather than how the funding was achieved or what the funding is going to be used at is actually making people ignorant about key facts about the way a company thinks. I think it is more important to concentrate on the unit economics of things.

Here are few things that attracts graduates to startups nowadays-

1.The "Unicorn" tag

Graduates running after just the name of the brand are not making any change from the other group of people suffering from "MNC herd mentality". To make a jump into a startup should mean much more than just having a cushy job with high salary. The fact is much more than that. Working in startups should be considered as the toughest pilgrimage you are ready to take for building your career. It is more like a journey to get the ability to question and improve everything without feeling the pressure of hierarchy. Nothing else or no one else can give you this skill.

2.The Money factor-

While it is a fact that some startups offer better salaries than MNC's, graduates should understand the reason of doing so. It is to get better candidates in the shortest possible time. That's about it. If you don't have the knack for making things better or are innovation-impaired then startup won't be the best option for you.

3. The Mentoring

It is a fact that most of the startup founders have had pretty successful careers in MNC's before starting up so they have been through the grill when it comes to sticking to deadlines as well as imbibed some of the cultural aspects too. Getting the best of both worlds makes the mentorship through them much more valuable. Also most of the experienced lot in a startup would have made a jump from an MNC so they can also be add more value to your experience.

4. The Hustle

Hustle is not something that you search for but is something that is taught to you in startups. Experienced hustlers are in-demand in most companies and getting to be that is the best thing you can dream of. Working with different departments, doing things you can only wish for in MNC's, having an opinion and more importantly getting the freeway to implement ideas is something only a startup can give you.

Graduates should be wary of the word "Unicorn", as it relates a startup to a mythological beast in-turn tells a lot about a system of flattery and self-exaggeration that is beyond normal. While the word actually means a company having more than 1 Billion dollar valuation, things do not actually always depend on just the valuation. In campus hiring, some "unicorns" have started differing from their promised joining date and there have been quite a few incidents of "pink slips" being given away. Decision based on quality of work and value addition more than looking out for mythological creatures is the way to go!