Be seen in good company
DEEPA KURUP
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Aptitude, attitude, soft skills come into play during campus placements
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It’s that time of the year when all engineering students will fasten their seat belts and get set for their careers to take off. Students will find that they do not have much time to celebrate the completion of their sixth semester examinations. With campus placements round the corner, every student’s eyes will be on the placement cell and the profile of companies coming in.
Campus placements assume a greater aura of importance and criticality this year. With an unstable job market in the face of global recession and constant rumours about job cuts and downsizing, students will find themselves in a tight spot. Sources in placement agencies say that for freshers who do not get through placements and land up in the inexperienced category, the job market will be rather dim. Several companies are reportedly looking at cutting costs and they may try to reduce training costs by focussing on hiring experienced candidates.
Sanjay Urs, head of a placement agency, Plakon Consulting Pvt. Ltd., says that the stakes for students going through campus placements just got higher.
Right time
“Students in the final year must try their best to get through in the campus rounds because they will later find it very difficult to get a job. Once out of college they will compete with experienced candidates and with the job market in a slump it will be extremely difficult for them to make it,” Mr. Urs explains. Representatives of several placement agencies confirmed this trend and advised students to give the campus rounds their best shot. Placement officers from top colleges in Bangalore also voice the same concern and though the number of companies which have promised to visit their campuses in July has not declined, they fear that the numbers they recruit may be on the lower side.
The campus placement rounds usually involve an aptitude test, a group discussion and a personal interview. Some companies may avoid the GD, but the personal interview which may feature technical as well as HR questions is mandatory. Companies, based on their profile and requirement, will look for different sets of features. While product development-based job profiles will look for aptitude and soft skills, the service-based job profile may emphasise on sound technical knowledge. With several companies working in line with a global market, especially in product development, companies look for good communication skills and efficient writing and presentation skills.
First things first. No matter how good your soft skills are, the aptitude test is without doubt your first and most important hurdle. Though several institutes offer aptitude training, experts say that the best thing would be to solve as many papers as possible. Regional Director, TIME institute, Ajay Arora, says that students can also study from books that help train for CAT and solve puzzles. “The skills required are quite similar. Analytics, reasoning, data interpretation and so on. Students must practice as many papers as possible,” he says. Puzzle books by authors such as George Summers will give you an idea of what to expect.
Several websites such as freshersworld.com provide question papers (with answer keys) of various company entrances for free download. “As far as I know, seniors are the best database in this matter. Talking to them gives you an idea of exactly what each company expects and what can be done to tackle those tests. Even with interviews, each company sticks to a certain pattern. If you do your homework you will be able to face these interviews with confidence,” says Anand Holani, final year student of RVCE. However, several of these websites are unprofessional and may provide wrong answers and guidance.
Networking helps
Student can also put up their resumes on job portals well in advance. HR persons say that students are often irresponsible and do not even bother to write a covering letter which puts off the recruiter. Talking to your teachers and networking with students from other colleges will help you a lot.
In top-notch colleges placement training starts in the second year itself. Every semester will have personality development classes integrated into the schedule so that students are continuously trained in everything from body language to fielding interview questions.
However, if your college does not have a placement cell, experts suggest you start one of your own. “Students must try make their brochures and take things into their own hands instead of waiting for their college. It will be easy for them to network with other colleges and set the ball rolling. Internationally, students run placement procedures on their own and do not depend on the colleges,” Mr. Arora says.
Colleges in Karnataka in general do very well in terms of placement. Recently, BMS College of Engineering was ranked second in the country in this aspect. Placement director H.S. Jagadeesh says that they have received responses from all the top companies this year. He feels that the extra courses done and additional skill-sets do not matter as much as the overall personality. Narahari, placement in-charge of R.V. College of Engineering, feels that students must concentrate on clearing the aptitude test. “Academic records matter first and personality and communication skills are equally important,” he says.
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