Hiring Isn’t HR Anymore — It’s Marketing”: A Conversation with Payal Doshi

Q: Payal, you’ve worked across APAC building campaigns, driving partner marketing, and shaping brand strategy. How did your journey influence your views on campus hiring?

Payal:
My career started with a campus placement interview — that moment changed everything. I walked in with excitement and uncertainty, much like students today. That experience planted a seed I didn’t understand until years later:
the way companies show up early and tell their story shapes the kind of talent they attract.

As I grew in marketing, leading campaigns and engaging diverse audiences, I realised something significant —
students behave exactly like modern consumers.
They research, compare, evaluate, and then choose.

Campus hiring is no longer a recruitment activity.
It’s a brand experience.

Q: What’s the biggest shift you’re seeing in India’s campus hiring landscape?

Payal:
 Students are hyper-informed and hyper-digital. They don’t respond to one-off placements anymore. They want:

●      purpose

●      real culture stories

●      visible growth paths

●      hands-on learning

●      year-round engagement

This aligns perfectly with marketing funnels.
We don’t expect customers to buy after one ad.
Why expect students to commit after one campus visit?

The companies winning today treat talent attraction like demand generation.

Q: You’ve said employer branding is becoming the new demand gen. What does that mean?

Payal:
Demand gen is about building trust, familiarity, and recall before a customer enters the buying journey.

Employer branding works the same way.

Winning talent today means:

●      showing up all year, not just during placement season

●      communicating consistently

●      creating experiences, not just advertisements

●      empowering employees to share real stories

●      engaging students long before they apply

When this happens, students don’t just know you —
 they advocate for you.

Q: What role do digital platforms and HRTech play in this new hiring model?

Payal:
A massive one.
Traditional recruitment cycles don’t match how students engage today.

Platforms like AI-driven recruitment tools, online campus hiring systems, and hyperlocal hiring solutions are bridging the college-to-corporate gap at scale.

A platform like SkillsConnect, for example, gives companies visibility across 13,000+ verified colleges and enables year-round engagement through:

●      live industry projects

●      skill-based challenges

●      summer internships

●      culture storytelling

●      internship + full-time hiring

This isn’t just recruitment anymore —
it’s community-building.

Students don’t just apply; they connect.

Q: From a marketing perspective, what should companies do differently to attract fresh graduates?

Payal:

1. Be present before you need talent.
Top of funnel matters in hiring, too.

2. Tell stories that feel real, not corporate.
Students can spot scripted content instantly.

3. Give them hands-on engagement.
Challenges, projects, and hackathons communicate more than any employer video.

4. Use data the way marketers use funnel insights.
What content drives interest?
Where are students dropping off?
Which channels build trust?

5. Build an ecosystem, not a one-time campaign.
Students remember experiences — not placements.

Q: What’s the one line that captures your philosophy on hiring?

Payal:
Hiring is no longer about filling roles.
It’s about shaping the story the next generation wants to be part of.

Q: Finally, how do you see the future of campus hiring in India?

Payal:
India is becoming one of the world’s most competitive fresher markets. The companies that succeed will blend marketing, HR, and technology seamlessly.

This includes:

●      AI-based fresher hiring

●      skill-first assessments

●      integrated online placement systems

●      year-round employer branding

●      fresher recruitment software that builds visibility

Fresh talent isn’t passively waiting anymore.
Companies must earn their attention — the same way they earn customers.

When marketing meets employer branding, something powerful happens:
Talent discovers you long before you discover them.

About the Author

Payal Doshi is an APAC Marketing Program Manager at Formlabs, where she leads multi-region campaigns, partner marketing, and go-to-market strategy across Asia. With over seven years of experience in driving brand visibility and demand generation across B2B sectors, Payal brings a marketer’s lens to talent engagement, storytelling, and digital outreach. She is passionate about helping brands build meaningful connections with the next generation through authentic communication and modern marketing frameworks.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/payal-doshi/