Road to recovery: Companies to start campus recruitment in Dec

Tue, Oct 27 07:10 AM

After most IT and non-IT companies delayed campus recruitments by six months because of economic slowdown, many are now approaching engineering colleges in the city to hold placement interviews in December.

"This is a good news for students as companies are lining up for campus placements in December. The market situation is improving and recruitments are expected to happen for at least six months starting December," said professor P Surahmanyam, director (industry, academia collaborations), MIT. At least half a dozen IT companies have inquired with MIT for campus placements.

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) had written to its member companies, engineering college heads and their respective Training and Placement Officers (TandPO) in March this year to conduct campus recruitments in the eighth semester (December), instead of in July. This was to ensure that companies do not make hasty job offers and back out later as some companies had done during the slowdown.

Most of its member companies and engineering colleges abided by this decision. The placement will be mainly for students who will pass out in 2009-10.

Professor Sandeep Meshram, associate TandPO with College of Engineering Pune (COEP), said there was a change in their placement pattern this time.

"We used to allow students to appear for interviews of IT as well as non-IT companies and let them choose if they got offers from both. This time, we shall allow a student to appear for interviews of one sector only," he said.

Rohini Kothari, TandPO with Cummins College of Engineering for Women, said around half a dozen IT companies have started approaching them for campus placements and they expected the number to go up by December. Professor Shitalkumar Rawandale, TandPO with Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering, said at least eight IT companies have approached them to hold campus placements in December.

Similarly, human resource personnel from various IT companies too are gearing up for hiring. Companies, however, are expected to offer reduced salary packages and take in fewer number of students during these drives.

Dinesh Gupta, president, HR Infotech Association Pune chapter, an association of HR professionals in IT industry said, "The salary packages might be reduced by 5 to 10 per cent."

Gupta added that companies would prefer candidates who have completed specialisation in some technology as they are looking at cutting down the training duration of freshers.

Kishor Bhalerao, senior vice president (HR), Persistent System Limited, however, differed that the number of students for placement will come down.

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