The placement season has barely picked up at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). However, two postgraduate students have already landed jobs with a pay packet of Rs 22.26 lakh per annum.
Both are from the department of computer science and have been picked up by the online retail giant based in US, e-bay. Likewise as many as 113 of the 300 students who registered for this year’s placement have been placed in a number of well-known Indian and foreign companies from the fields of information technology and manufacturing.
Last year, two students were recruited for an annual salary of Rs 25 lakh. The average salary of students placed from here is Rs 16 lakh per annum, according to J M Chandra Kishen, professor, department of civil engineering, who heads the placement cell.
The placement season which runs from November to February every year, has got a confirmation from at least 45 companies – Indian and foreign so far, and more are expected to participate. These include companies like IBM, Goldman Sachs, Airbus and Microsoft, besides the Mahindra Group and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
Significantly, most of the students who register with the placement cell are those in ME (Masters in Engineering) and MTech (Masters in Technology).
Out of these, students from the departments of Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering and even from the Centre of Product Design and Manufacturing are the most sought after. There are on an average 20 to 25 students in each of these departments and almost 90 per cent of them get placed every year. For students in other departments like Mechanical, Aeronautical and Material Engineering, the placement percentage is 50 percent to 60 per cent.
A majority of those pursuing their PhD and postdoctorate studies in the Institute rarely register with the placement cell. “These students may land jobs on their own or through their respective departments or contacts. Sometimes companies send their requirements specifically for PhD candidates which we convey to the respective departments. In any case, most of them may be more interested in pursuing higher studies,” said Prof Kishen.
The number of students placed last year was 200 out of the 300 who had registered. In 2011-12 and 2010-11 it was 269 and 264 respectively.
With the first batch of students of the four-year BS (Bachelors in Science) course all set to pass out next year, the institute is planning to appoint a full time placement officer, said Prof Kishen.
