These grads have a job, but are still unemployed

Sluggish economy delays joining dates for last years recruits

The dry spell in the job market has hit scores of candidates who had secured employment during the campus recruitments in October 2011. A year later, they are still waiting for the companies to give them the joining date.

The season for fresh placements has already begun and colleges are in the process of placement co-ordination for students who will pass out of the colleges in June 2013. But those who graduated in June 2012 are still waiting for job confirmation.

A few of the companies that gave tentative dates for joining in August this year have deferred it to January 2013. A few others have given a broad timeframe between August 2012 and February 2013. The students are still waiting to hear from them.|

Students in colleges with ‘one student one job’ policy are the worst hit as they have no option but to wait for the call from the company that recruited them. “Since the economy is sluggish, we cannot even find jobs elsewhere,” said Anupama (name changed), a graduate from an engineering college in Mysore who is waiting since November last for a joining date.

Being among the toppers in the class, she got placed in a reputed software firm. Due to the ‘one job’ policy, she had to choose a software job as she got through the first interview she attended for an IT company, though she is a student of Electrical and Electronics.   

Students from colleges that allow attending more than one interview are also in a soup. Unable to apply to other firms and in the dark about when the companies that recruited them will get back to them, most of them are sitting at home unsure of their future.

“It has already been a year since our placements were done. Those of us who wanted to pursue higher education with a two-year work experience are in a dilemma as we are losing time,” said Abhishek (name changed), who passed from a top institute in Bangalore.

For many, joining colleges that assured them ‘100 percent placements’ has proved a nightmare. Students admit that the economy is bound to fluctuate. But, they say their colleges and the companies can do better coordination in giving them at least a fair idea about when they will be given the joining dates.