The hunt for the right job

Four years of hard work in an engineering college is worth it because the college promises you a job at the end of it.

The last three semesters are testing time for the students as that is when companies visit the campus for recruitment. But does it always work well for the students?

While students do get jobs through their college placement cells, some actually start looking out for jobs themselves.  

“Last year, the placements were not that great in our college due to recession but this year, for the time being, it is quite fine. Around 10 companies have already visited the campus. So I expect that I will be placed soon,” says Kumar Jaywardhane, a student of BMS College of Engineering.

“We have been having pretty good aptitude classes in our college and I am hoping that the placements will be decent this year. As of now, I am not looking out. But if I am not placed, I will have to, later on,” says Basanth Patil, a student of Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology.

Other students too are hopeful of the placement process.  “There are other means of finding a job but I think there is a better chance of getting placed in the college itself,” says Abhijith Arkalgud, a student of SJB Institute of Technology.

“And our placement should have ideally started in the pre-final year but for the NASSCOM rule, which says that the companies cannot disturb students of pre-final year,” he adds.
While things seem to be going well this year, some students describe the problems often faced during the placement process.

“Last year, in my college, about 80 percent of the companies that came were from the software industry. It is very tough for mechanical students to get a job in a
mechanical company and if they do, they get paid very less,” says Chetan Mohan, who passed out from Nitte Meenakshi Institute of Technology.

Students from non-computer and electronic background have a hard time finding a profile of their choice.  “Many students from the mechanical and other courses in his college are preparing for GRE and so the placements don’t matter much to them,” says Basanth.
“Mechanical students don’t have computer science in their course. The college provides them the training, so that they do well in the technical exams. And most end up taking IT jobs,” says Abhijith.

So while it is easier to get a software job, the students who want the profile of their choice, do start looking out themselves instead of waiting.

 “Students are happy if they get placed while in college as it gets extremely difficult to look for a job after one finishes college,” says Chetan.