Hackathons serve as vital HR tools for India's tech and IT services firms

HR departments in India are deploying hackathons in myriad ways, including finding the right talent, gauging internal skill levels, and promoting innovation amongst employees. At hackathons, a large number of people come together for a short period of time to intensely chip away at a challenge. Such extreme, collaborative programming gatherings — codejams that drive technology innovation, and codefests that dish out ideas for large technology companies — are becoming a frequent feature in India. As their popularity rises, hackathons are evolving into a sophisticated human resources tool for the country’s IT services and tech firms, which are applying them for a wide range of mainstream situations.