Hyderabad, 7th March 025: BAJA SAEINDIA is a premier student competition where engineering students design, build and race an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). It is part of the global SAE International BAJA series, and in India, it is organized by SAEINDIA (Society of Automotive Engineers India). This competition helps students bridge the gap between theoretical learning and practical application while enhancing employability in the automotive and allied industries.
As part of the BAJA SAEINDIA, the HR Meet is the cornerstone event, bringing together top industry leaders, academia, and promising young BAJA engineers to explore and shape the future of mobility in India. The recruitment market is a highly competitive one, to state the obvious. And for a Core company, it can often turn into a nightmare with communication & visit to many engineering colleges, a mountain of paperwork, pending deliverables, miscommunication and human errors, to name a few. The growing need to hire more and more qualified employees with specialised skill sets adds to the challenge. Luckily automation has helped address many of these pain points and more and more smart recruiters are using recruitment software and platforms to recruit better.
A good recruitment software like BAJA’s POD.AI improves Recruitment efficiencies, reduces cost, streamlines data collections, give relief to recruiters, discovers better candidates and saves time. But big data, predictive analysis and artificial intelligence are transforming the entire HR ecosystem and providing robust solutions for problems which were hitherto plaguing the industry. Technology is helping overcome biases with processes that are hyper-responsive to market data, complex metrics and even budget constraints.
The Recruitment process began with the BAJA APTITUDE TEST (BAT) conducted online every December, serving as the initial step for students entering the recruitment drive. The students upload their data online on the POD.AI portal and after the BAT results are uploaded, the Recruiting companies can apply filter as per their shortlisting criteria and finalize the list for final phase. The final phase of the event culminates in the physical HR Meet, which is organized next day after the conclusion of the BAJA’s Valedictory Session. The students can also select the companies, where they want to be interviewed. Host Institutions like Acropolis Institute, Chitkara University and Ajinkya DY Patil University play a big role in hospitality of the Recruiters ads well as aspiring BAJA Students.
The HR Meet features dynamic interview sessions where students interact with industry experts and hiring managers, discussing potential career opportunities in the automotive, electric mobility and core engineering sectors. The event witnesses enthusiastic participation from students who demonstrate their knowledge, hands-on experience and innovative mindset cultivated through their involvement in the BAJA SAEINDIA competition.
This year, BAJA SAEINDIA saw the participation of around 15 sponsoring companies and a total of 500- 600 eligible students. HR representatives from sponsoring organizations such as ARAI, Renault Nissan, General Motors, Daimler, Mahindra, Eka Mobility, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motors, Oben Electric, Gravton Motors, Michelin, Anand Group, Endurance Technologies, Varroc, Vecmocon, etc. attended the event, seeking candidates with a strong passion for electric mobility and sustainable mobility solutions.
Most of the companies shortlist around 50 to 100 candidates based on their filtering requirements and then conduct Group Discussions or Bingo round to further shortlist 25 students. Based on their Technical & HR interview, generally 5 to 10 students are given on-the-spot offers by respective sponsoring companies. The annual Package ranges from INR 8 to 15 Lakhs per annum. Additionally, the placement drive continues to offer virtual interview opportunities, reinforcing BAJA SAEINDIA’s commitment to expanding career prospects for students participating in the BAJA SAEINDIA event.
“We are thrilled to see such an overwhelming response from both students and recruiters. The HR Meet is a crucial step in fostering industry-academia collaboration and creating job opportunities for young engineers passionate about mobility solutions,” said Mr. Yash Kakade the Alumni Head of BAJA SAEINDIA 2025.
The BAJA SAEINDIA 2025 season successfully concluded its events across three categories—mBAJA & hBAJA at NATRAX, Pithampur near Indore and eBAJA at BVRIT, Narsapur near Hyderabad with enthusiastic participation from teams and students. As the competition progresses, the upcoming aBAJA event is set to focus on ADAS and Autonomous vehicle technology at ARAI, Pune marking another milestone in innovation and engineering excellence.
