While the job one gets on campus is rarely one’s final (or in many cases, even initial) destination, the placement season is serious business for most of the 1600-odd registered students because it’s the easiest, most secure opportunity to bag a job for most students. The buildup to December 1 is significant, beginning with multinational giants making presentations about how their companies will bring you happiness and riches. Next, final years toil away at MS Word’s door, trying to encapsulate four/five years of their lives in one or two pages of their Resumes’ crowded text. Endsems are shrugged away like never before, as a slew of aptitude tests and more CV submissions, presentations and GD/PI preparation take over the average final year student’s life. And when you see an unrecognizably clean-shaven, groomed and suited-up friend cycling frantically into the Vikramshila complex on a nippy December 1 morning, you momentarily wonder if you’ve seen it all.

Click though the graphs to see a larger image

All courses at a glance

As the stats show, the placement scenario was by no means a bed of roses. Job opportunities are not bountiful in every domain, with a heavy skew prevalent towards the IT industry and a surplus of foreign-educated grad students in the more niche fields. Consequently the placed cannot be not equally distributed among all departments and programmes. Among post-graduate students, the scenario is not optimistic, with only 32% of registered students in the various post-grad programmes managing a job so far.

Average day of placement - Department wise

The stats appear particularly biased department-wise, with most of the students in departments like CS, ECE and EE getting placed, while many 2-year M.Sc programmes drew blanks. Another disadvantage is Kgp’s location affecting the number and quality of companies coming in to recruit, especially new companies considering hiring IITians on a trial basis. A comparison of Day One companies at IITs like Delhi and Bombay elucidates this problem, a regular thorn in the side of the Placement Committee when they try to get new companies to recruit from our campus.

How the departments fared (undergrad)

How departments fared (postgrad)

But all said and done, this session was one of the best in years and the numbers speak for themselves. Over a hundred people landed jobs at the Day 1 companies (via placements or PPOs).

CGPA vs. Day of Placement

As the chart above shows, there is a healthy distribution of GPAs that get placed every day, so there is hope for any candidate provided they work on their profile hard enough. Also, at 882 people placed (about 53% of registered people) as of this writing, we are currently leading all the IITs in terms of raw number of placed candidates.

Looking ahead, the most ominous challenge lies in the numbers. The pressure of burgeoning batch strengths will be felt with an ever-increasing crunch in the coming years. With approximately 2000 students expected to sit for placements next year and the economy in doubt courtesy a turbulent Europe, the percentage placements should take a hit. Professor SK Srivastava, Professor in-charge, Training and Placement Cell, said, ‘Increasing competition, not only within but among IITs, means that students will need to work very, very hard. Do not take placements lightly, for a job is by no means assured.’

To ensure a level playing field for everyone appearing for placements, the Training and Placement section plans to instate several measures in the near future. An increase in infrastructure should help increase efficacy by making extra rooms available to conduct tests, GDs and PIs. In addition, an ERP system is being planned to compile lists of position-holders at the Gymkhana and Hall levels, and forward these to the Placement Cell. A feather may also be drawn from the cap of places like IIT-D or IIM, wherein candidates freeze a verified Master CV for all recruitment purposes.

It was a solid showing for placements at Kgp, one that has lessons for both prospective job-seekers as well as the administration. The final semester lies ahead of some of us. To those who have a dream job or a place in IIM ahead, congratulations. And to those sitting for placements in the second phase, to the academically inclined praying for an Ivy League acceptance, and those looking to carve out new paths for themselves, we wish the very best of luck!

Overall placement statistics:

Course-wise Statistics

A) B.Tech

B) Dual Degree

C) 5 Year M.Sc

D) 2 Year M.Sc

E) M.Tech/LLB

Note : The ‘Placed’ category in the above graphs also include people who have opted for Higher Studies.

For detailed Placement statistics, refer to our post here.

TSA: How would you rate this year’s placement season as compared to previous years?
PC: Overall, there has been an increase in the number of job opportunities, students placed and average packages as compared to the previous years. As such, this year’s placement season has been much better.

TSA: What were the new initiatives (to attract companies or otherwise) introduced this year? How would you rate their success ?
PC: This year, in collaboration with Communique, we conducted a  “Placement Drive” consisting of CV Building and GD/PI/Case workshops by professionals. Although the attendance was not what we expected, we received a lot of positive feedback and plan to continue it next year as well.
In addition, some of the earlier endeavors like the TnPedia (in collaboration with TSA) and the department representatives were improved upon and have been successful.
Apart from this, we tried to introduce other initiatives like a TnP ERP system, but they fell through due to various reasons.

TSA: Department Representatives is a fairly new concept. How have they been helpful to the Placecomm?
PC: Ideally, a department representative is expected to support the student placement committee by providing a priority list of companies, information about the department pertaining to prospective recruiters and sourcing industry contacts from professors in the department. In this regard, many department representatives have proved to be adequate.

TSA: Based on feedback from Companies, what are the skill sets KGPians are found wanting in?
PC: Although there are always exceptions – in this case, a large number of them – in general, when compared to other IITs such as Bombay and Delhi, KGPians fall behind mainly in communication skills.

TSA: Is there any advice you would like to offer for the next batch of students gearing up for placements?
PC: Make sure you prepare well prior to an interview. Don’t oversell yourself in your CV. Most importantly, don’t sweat it – whenever you face any kind of situation, the placecomms are your go-to guys.

TSA: What were the major trends (if any) you witnessed with respect to the companies recruiting?
PC: There is no one answer to this question. The trends of recruiters are very company specific and wildly vary from person to person. What works this year may not necessarily do so the next. Only one thing is obvious – the smarter you are and the higher your CG, the more the companies like you.

TSA: What were the major obstacles you faced throughout the season and how did you overcome them?
PC: During the placement season itself, the obstacles we faced were opinionated HR persons, frantic students, sleep deprivation and occasional migraines. Its not impossible to overcome any of these ‘obstacles’. Coffee was a big help.

TSA: Has TSA’s TnPedia helped students sitting for placements? How do you think it can be improved?
PC: It was definitely helpful to a large number of students. However, there will be a marked improvement with a more streamlined and exhaustive form of data collection.

TSA: Were there any instances of unprofessional conduct by students reported by companies?
PC: There are always instances of unprofessional conduct and complaints in a huge operation such as this. However, with the help of the professor-in-charge, Prof. S.K.Srivastava, these issues were taken care of. As he likes to say, these are only minor hurdles and we should not lose sight of our main goal.

TSA: Being a Placecomm member must be a very demanding job. How has your experience been? What will be your advice to students aspiring to be Placecomm members?
PC: It has indeed been a very demanding job but it has also been rewarding. One gets to learn a lot and build lasting relationships. To those who are aspiring to be members, make sure you know what the job entails and that you are upto the task before you decide.

Introducing TnPedia, our most comprehensive placement guide to date

Recently seen a final year student hitting the gym or poring through a copy of his CV? Wonder not, for the 2010-11 Placement Session is barely two months away. That’s right, Two months are all that lie between nearly 700 students and their oft-quoted hopes and aspirations, and every subtle detail to their presentation, be it their resume, haircut or cufflinks could increase their odds of landing that dream career.

But presentation can only carry one so far; it is well documented that there has always been a mismatch between the academic rigour that students go through at a university and the practical know-how required to thrive in the industry. The first step to bridge this chasm is to abolish the lack of awareness inherent in the system, and bring the students up to speed on what is expected of them from their prospective employers.

In a move to address this need, The Scholars’ Avenue, aided by the Placement Committee of 2009-10, had initiated a little project called “TnPedia” at the beginning of this calendar year, whereby we had contacted several successfully placed candidates from last year’s placement season to provide some pointers into their selection procedures, so that future batches may come better prepared. The intention was not to build just another question bank, but to comprehensively document the selection process from the candidates’ points of view, and to grant the reader an insight into the sort of mindset that companies are looking for.

To our good fortune, we have received detailed responses from as many as 78 candidates thus far, encompassing profiles of over 46 companies that had visited the campus for placements. All of these responses have been collated and uploaded on our site, http://placements.scholarsavenue.org for easy perusal. As per requests, TnPedia will not be made available outside of Kharagpur’s ip-space, nor will the identities of the respondents be revealed. Nevertheless, we would be happy to clarify any additional questions with our sources.

As it stands, TnPedia is still a work in progress; as the respondents were encouraged to be as detailed regarding their own specializations as possible, there are bound to be several job profiles missed out in our coverage. We hope to fill in the gaps over the years as we collect fresher information from future batches. As an iterative process, requests for contributions to TnPedia will commence again immediately after Placement Season. In addition, we plan to expand our compendium beyond training and placements, and produce a similar guide towards successfully applying to higher institutes of learning as well.

And this finally brings us to you, our readers.  It is our intent to provide the student populace the most comprehensive placement guide within our capabilities. It goes without saying that we would be delighted to hear from you once your placements have finished, and that any contributions made by you would go a long way in helping your fellow students upon their turn.

Also, take a look at our past archives for a better perspective into cracking the placement season: 2007 and 2008.

One of the ost promising measures that he had set out to accomplish was the mock GD/PI sessions for all the students who registered for placements, which was supposed to have happened in mid-October according to his estimation during our last interview. Unfortunately, he informs us that this will not be happening this time around due to insufficient funds. The amount allocated to this project by the Registrar was a mere 1/4th of what was needed. In place of what would have been an extremely beneficial one-on-one session with professionals, final year students will have to do with just a seminar that is slated to happen sometime during November. Also meeting with delays was the plan to have student profile pages hosted on the IIT-KGP site. This project has been taken up by the Dean of Co-ordination and Planning and is likely to be completed this time next year. On a happier note, one of the measures that was taken by the VP in relation to placements did bear fruit, namely the appointment of department representatives. According to him, it has been “100% effective” in getting new companies for placements.

ARE YOU READY FOR A CHALLENGE?

Teach For India seeks the most outstanding students for 2010 Fellowship

Are you interested in leadership at the highest levels?  Do you have a track record of academic achievement?  Do you care about making a better India for all citizens?

Teach For India, the nationwide movement to end educational inequity, is seeking the world’s most outstanding final-year students for its selective 2010 Fellowship.

Teach For India believes that all children deserve access to a quality education.  But in India today, where only 10% of students graduate from 10^th standard and where low-income students have no teacher in their classroom 40% of the time, we are far from educational equity.

The Teach For India Fellowship creates a movement of leaders in all sectors who understand the problems behind educational inequity and who can fight for change.  The two-year, full-time leadership Fellowship selects the best college graduates and young professionals worldwide to teach full-time in Indian low-income schools.  Fellows are trained in teaching and leadership skills and network with leaders in government, business and entertainment.

Teach For India Fellows emerge with the leadership and soft skills – such as communication, problem-solving, and organization – to succeed in any sector.  Teach For India’s career center helps Fellows connect with our corporate and post-graduate partners, including ISB, SP Jain, McKinsey, Thermax and more.

Teach For India is based on the highly influential and selective Teach For America movement, which is now 20 years old and boasts 17,000 alumni in powerful positions all over the United States and throughout the world.

In June 2009, Teach For India placed its first class of 87 Fellows in English-medium, primary schools in Mumbai and Pune. Fellows come from leading colleges such as IIT, St. Xavier’s, St. Stephen’s and Symbiosis and top corporates such as ICICI Bank, Godrej Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Power and others.  By its fifth year, Teach For India aims to place hundreds of Fellows in the country’s top metropolitan cities and their surrounding rural areas.

Interested in applying?  Visit their website at www.teachforindia.org to apply, or e-mail campus ambassador Saurabh Harnathka at harnathka@gmail.com for more information.

Barclays Capital – Career and Internship Opportunities

The last date of applying online for intenships for IIT KGP students is October 5. To apply visit the campus recruitment website www.barcap.com/expectexcellence. The final selections will be held in mid October. Keep checking back for updates.

The details are as follows:

*CTC- Rs 4.8 Lacs(Min) to Rs 15Lacs(Max)
*Interested candidates should mail their CVs at iline.edu@gmail.com by 11/04/2009
*Candidates will have to sit for a written test  followed by a 30min class presentation on any topic of their choice.
*Test date and time : 11AM, Sunday (12/04/2009)
Venue: iLine, 67 First Floor, Birenu Trade Centre, Penar Road (Ambagan), Sakchi, Jamshedpur

For more details please contact Mr. Roshan Kumar (Electrical, 2006 KGP graduate) at 0657-6540008