What Mastercard looks for in candidates when hiring?

Mastercard continues to hire for tech roles in India across levels in skills such as software development, data analytics, AI & ML, cybersecurity among others.

Being a tech-led company that is growing and diversifying globally, Mastercard India is actively hiring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent.

In 2022, recruitment numbers in India were nearly 50 percent more than those in 2021.

In addition to continuous hiring, the focus has been on enhancing diversity, employee experience, and expanding capabilities with the presence of teams across business units, including Technology, Cyber & Intelligence (C&I), and Data & Services (D&S).

Close to 400 freshers and interns from various leading colleges across India joined the multinational financial services company in 2022 alone, with an average gender diversity of over 46 percent.

“At this point, we have close to 33 percent of women contributing to the workforce at Mastercard in India. While this number is at par with our peer companies, we realise that we have a long way to go, and we’re working proactively to build a more gender-balanced workforce,” Joseph Fernandes, SVP and Head of People and Capability for South Asia at Mastercard told Moneycontrol.

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From a hiring standpoint, the company is focused on growing its tech talent pool across Pune and Vadodara tech centres, and the Data & Services Centre of Excellence in Gurugram.

Fernandes said Mastercard’s India Tech Hub has grown significantly over the years and is now the company’s largest technology hub in the world, in terms of headcount.

“The Pune Tech Hub has grown significantly, having started with around 200 people in 2014 in a small office to currently a headcount of 4,500,” he said.

Mastercard continues to hire for tech roles in India across levels in skills such as software development, data analytics, AI & ML, cybersecurity as well as data architecture, tech operations, and business operations, among others.

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“In India, we have created AI Garage, where we are hiring experienced AI professionals as well as fresh computer science graduates and then training them in this new-age technology. Also, as a firm believer of diversity at the workplace, the company plans to source its talent from Tier 2 and 3 locations,” Fernandes said.

Hiring process

Mastercard has listed the steps of the hiring process on its official website. Typically, it's a four-step process. After candidates submit their resumes, recruiters conduct a phone screening of about 30 minutes, if the candidate is fit for the role.

Next comes a phone or video interview of 30-60 minutes, with hiring managers focused on skills related to the job, responsibilities, team etc. Here, candidates must assess and decide if they are ready to join Mastercard by asking the right questions.

“At Mastercard, how we do things is as important as what we do, and this is key to our culture of decency. Besides technical skills, we highly value traits such as empathy, eagerness to learn, openness to collaborate, taking ownership, acting with agility and a drive to not only do well but do good,” Fernandes said.

If both the candidate and the manager decide to move forward, the candidate is made to go through a technical or product management or consulting interview, depending on the role applied. This can involve both virtual and in-person interactions. If selected, the rest of the process involves offer and onboarding.

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In light of the increased focus on flexibility, Mastercard has introduced four “work from elsewhere” weeks annually, which employees can leverage any time of the year. Besides, it also has global meeting-free days every month, and Flex Time-off every week, wherein employees can take adequate time away from work to focus on personal development and well-being.

“They get to have the agency to find their balance with the opportunity to work remotely, have a flexible start time, or a combination of the two,” Fernandes said.