Tech companies are pursuing AI talent years before graduation, with headhunters contacting doctoral researchers to pitch specific roles and ask when they will graduate. Doctoral researcher Hu Qi still has about two years left in his programme at the University of Hong Kong, but recruiters are already reaching out and his team leaders at a Chinese tech giant where he is interning regularly ask about his post-graduation plans, urging him to sign on full-time the moment he finishes his degree.
AI talent recruitment begins years before graduation
With top-level research talent in short supply, tech employers are keen to lock down candidates earlier than ever. “Companies that wait until graduation to find out who the best graduates are, they’ve already lost,” said Vahid Haghzare, managing director of Silicon Valley Associates Recruitment, a technology recruitment agency in Asia and the Middle East. Recruiters sometimes reached out to prospects up to three and four years before they finished school, while tech firms hosted a variety of conferences and seminars to make early contact, he said.
Example: doctoral researcher Hu Qi
Hu specialises in artificial intelligence agent security and is currently interning at a Chinese tech giant. Head-hunters have contacted him to pitch specific jobs and to ask when he will graduate, and his team leaders have pressed him to commit to a full-time position immediately after he completes his doctorate. The hunt for talent, according to the reporting, is reaching even further down the academic pipeline.
