How do you identify young talent that will have the greatest impact?

For most companies, the standard practice is to target select, prestigious schools, invest in a prime spot during seasonal career fairs, and collect as many resumes as possible to build an entry-level talent pipeline. It’s tempting to look at blunt proxies—like GPAs and internships at brand name companies—to create a candidate shortlist.

As someone who has been on both sides of the university recruiting table, I can tell you that this method is not sustainable. First off, in the age of digital transformation, the demand for developers won’t be able to keep up with such a narrow strategy. If everyone’s fighting for talent in the same pools of talent, hiring will be exponentially more difficult. Secondly, if your goal is to make strong hires, grades and alma mater aren’t reflective of true ability.

Back in college, my co-founder Hari Karunanidhi and I used to spend hours competing in coding contests. We had solid fundamentals and were really strong developers, but didn’t necessarily have the pedigree that recruiters were looking for.

I was fortunate that recruiters from Amazon happened to come to my campus for a coding competition that I was participating in—I was able to demonstrate my skills. Many other developers may not be as lucky.