With the overwhelming majority of students opting to sit for placements in their final year, the Placement Unit (PU) plays one of the most crucial roles campus, working on everything from convincing companies to come to campus to the smooth running of the final recruitment process. Through a series of interviews with the PU Chief, the PU student coordinator, and several final year students sitting for placements this semester, we tried to identify the functions and challenges faced by the PU.

The work in the PU is divided between two sets of students, the Junior Placement Committee (JPC) and the core team, whose members include the PU Coordinator, Pitching Head, Logistics Head, Internship Coordinator, among others. They work under the Placements Managers, who in turn work under the Chief Placement Officer, who essentially is the Chief Placement Manager of all three campuses. Simultaneously, there is also a Placement Unit Chief of each campus whose main task is to plug the gap between coursework and interviews and industrial requirements.

While placements in the IT sector have never been a cause of complaint, with leading companies coming and recruiting from campus, core placements have been dismal for years now, with a major portion of undergraduate students opting for jobs in the IT and Finance sectors. Final year students we spoke to attributed this to a shortage of lucrative job offers in their respective core fields, and postings in remote locations. An additional cause of complaint was the distinct lack of diversity in the pool of hirers, as most of the core companies that came for placement on campus belonged to the natural resource and energy sector.

Both the PU Unit Chief, Prof. Sangwan and the PU student Coordinator, Siddhant Narula listed several explanations for the current scenario. While Prof. Sangwan said that the perception of poor packages dissuaded a lot of students, even a when it came to companies such as the Indian Oil Corporation (IUCL) which offered 17 lakhs to recruits, students seemed disinterested in the sector.

Siddhant claimed that it wasn’t the lack of companies or even the packages offered that were a problem, but student perception regarding core placements He said, ‘One big reason is that, people feel that to get into core companies, you require complete expertise in the subject, which means that you have to be a nine pointer, you have to be an eight pointer. Someone who is a six pointer does not even dream about getting into a core company simply because he sees that he hasn’t scored well enough in his courses. So he feels that he must not know much about that course whereas, the reality is the opposite; even if you know your basics very well, even if you know just enough to get through the interview, you can get into a core company.’ He also challenged the notion that core companies do not pay well, citing Gale which offered 15 lakhs and Trident which offered manufacturing roles with a 15 lakh CTC, apart from IUCL.

As for the concern that there wasn’t enough variety amongst incoming companies, the PU Chief conceded that it was true. ‘But this is only because companies from the natural resource and energy sectors usually offer higher salaries compared to those in other core sectors, like manufacturing and pharmaceuticals,’ he said.

Another problem the PU has been facing, particularly during odd semesters, is the disinclination among core companies to hire from BITS. Companies are generally wary of hiring students during the first semester, because many students opt to leave when they get favorable PPOs while on their PS-II. ‘BITS has a lower joining ratio than many IITs because of PS-II and the possibility of PPOs, and hiring companies are aware of this fact,’ said Prof. Sangwan.

The PU conducts a survey around March or April every year to gauge students’ interests and opinions about the placement process. This semester, they also plan to send out feedback sheets to visiting companies. These feedback forms contain parameters such as fundamental/domain knowledge, task organization, problem-solving, decision-making, language skills, self-confidence, etc. With the responses and comments collected from these surveys, the PU aims prepare the students accordingly.

Siddhant was candid in admitting that there was no instant solution to the problems facing core placements. ‘The first step is to make the students aware about what the process of interviews for core companies is like. All you need to know is the basics and then you are in. The first step is creating that interest.’ The PU is also ensuring that faculty members interact with companies and inculcate some of the feedback into coursework. Finally, he concluded by saying, ‘What the PU can do with the students is essentially talk to them or interact with them more. That’s only going to be through people who have been placed in core companies.’