Abstract:

Work during academic education is characteristic of an increasing number of students. Information and communication technology (ICT) students, as future professionals, are in high demand for employees despite fluctuations in the labor market caused by recessions or unforeseen circumstances such as the onset of a pandemic. The globalization of the market, the application of ICT in every sphere of private and business life, the lack of proven and experienced ICT experts on the labor market, and the increase in profitability requires diversification of risks when hiring employees. Employers from the ICT sector are often in a dilemma as to how to evaluate someone's knowledge and skills in the professional field, and precisely working through authorized intermediaries in employment in the Republic of Croatia (RC) is a kind of catalyst that offers employers quite a good insight and the possibility of testing professional skills, knowledge and competence, because employers can in the real sector, to test professional knowledge and skills and refine the characteristics of the future employee.

The aim of this paper is to present a model for choosing the best candidate for employment (a student who works during academic education) using one of the methods of multi-criteria decision-making, the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results showed that employers value the candidate's character traits and acquired practical knowledge in the profession or outside the profession more than formal education.

For the purposes of this work, ten employers from the RC were contacted during 2021, who continuously use the services of student services, as intermediaries in the temporary employment of ICT students. Employers employing up to 100 employees participated in the sample. For students, these employers are usually the first real link with the real world of work and business expectations from employers. Employers, managers or employees of the employer who work on the recruitment of future ICT experts were asked to select in writing in the form of open answers the basic guidelines and assumptions they expect from candidates, that is, to select the criteria that are most important to them personally when selecting candidates for the first job at professional ICT jobs. Each employer was additionally contacted through an individual interview. In this way, basic criteria and sub-criteria were obtained and defined according to which the selected characteristics of the candidates will be evaluated in the second round of research. Employers singled out the following criteria: formal education, practical knowledge and skills acquired independently through professional practice or paid work and personal characteristics of the candidate.

By conducting an AHP analysis of candidate selection for a student job in the ICT field, it was shown that employers value the candidate's character traits and acquired practical knowledge in the profession or outside the profession more than formal education.
Professional internships organized by higher education institutions in their regular curricula and institutions that deal with work mediation during academic education represent a kind of foundation because they represent the first link of future ICT experts with the real world of work and provide them with the opportunity to see which way they want to continue their professional career after acquiring professional competences.

Keywords:

AHP method, multi-criteria decision-making, ICT experts, employment, studying while working.