Placement season is all set to begin

Updated on: Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Campus placements this year, even at the top engineering college campuses, is months behind schedule. However, this has nothing to do with the global economic recession or its impact on various sectors in the country.

An unusually cohesive initiative by academia and industry, ratified by a circular issued by IT body NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) had ensured that companies put away campus visits to the eighth semester, in an attempt to safeguard academic interests.

The seventh and penultimate semester for engineering students nevertheless has not been completely devoid of activity. Top colleges in Bangalore saw a few top-notch finance companies visiting the campus in spite of the caveat.

Even small engineering firms scouting for talent did pay visits to campuses. However, big players have been waiting for 2010 to enter the arena.

Do-or-die agenda

Starting January, engineering students will sit for campus placement interviews. In what will be yet another tough placement season, albeit the mood is predicted to be better than last year, students will face potential recruiters with a do-or-die agenda in hand.

Ready for their careers to take off, and understandably apprehensive, the tension among final year students is palpable in campuses this time around.

No time to rejoice

With little time to rejoice the completion of their seventh semester examination, students will now have to get into the placement mood by sharpening their resumes and getting their priorities right.

Rumours of a recovering job market, and a reported thaw in the recruitment freeze, have quelled some fears among students.

Placement officials in colleges, however, maintain that a tough time lies ahead for students as companies are bound to be choosy.

Also, given the fact that the rumoured green shoots in the West are not completely visible, students will have to give it their best, a placement official and professor in a leading engineering college in Bangalore said. Tier-II colleges still have it bad as companies are not yet back in full swing as far as numbers go, the professor added.

Stiff competition

An HR executive in a Mumbai-based hiring agency says that up north, trends have not yet reversed. However, students in Karnataka are at an advantage due to the proximity of the industry. But students must do their best to get in this year.

Make hay while the sun shines is the best advice for them, she opines. Once out into the market, given the number of laid-off workers and the number of executives who have returned from offshore jobs, the competition will be stiff for freshers.

They must remember that once companies feel the pinch, training costs are among the first things that they will look at cutting down on.

Even last year, the top colleges in Karnataka may have posted positive placements statistics but the number of offers made by each company had declined. This may very well remain a trend this year, placement officials fear.

Placement season is all set to begin

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