Recruiters Galore, IIT-Bombay Gears Up For Phase-I Of Placements, Makes Policy Changes For Better PhD Hiring – News18

Last Updated:November 07, 2024, 14:48 IST

Last year was tough in terms of placements being hit across IITs and other top institutes amid a global economic slowdown that led to lesser hiring and a drop in the average pay packages offered

The campus placements cell at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Bombay is busy onboarding recruiters ahead of phase-I of the placements cycle for 2024-25 as it looks forward to a better job scenario this season, with the global economy gradually opening up. The institute has also introduced a few policy changes to boost placements for PhD students that remain relatively low.

According to faculty members, though the scenario looks better this year with a good number of companies registering, the number of students they shortlist will finally decide how good the year will be.

Last year was tough in terms of placements being hit across IITs and other top institutes amid a global economic slowdown that led to lesser hiring and a drop in the average pay packages offered.

“We have reached out to companies and they have been responding. It’s early to say how this year will turn out. We have had good summer internships, and many students have already got pre-placement offers (PPOs),” said a senior faculty, who didn’t wish to be named.

The placements season at all older IITs officially begins from December 1.

Currently, screening tests of students are being conducted, both in the online and offline mode by recruiters. Different companies have different criterion for which students must prepare in advance. Companies come out with their list of shortlisted candidates in December, which is when students sit for placement interviews.

“The first week of selection process actually tells how placements are going to go,” the faculty member quoted above said.

The ongoing pre-placement activity will pause from November 10-23 due to end semester examinations, which is called the black-out period, when students are not engaged in any other activity except for the exams. This is to ensure that they don’t have to prepare for tests for recruiters.

“The market unlike last year does look better this year and we expect more companies to hire in the first phase itself,” said a student leader from the placement team.

Policy changes for PhD placements

In view of lower placements in PhD programmes, IIT-Bombay has made a policy change this year, allowing recruiters looking exclusively for PhD students to come in even before phase-I starts.

“Since PhD students are not bound by time, it has been decided that recruiters looking only for research scholars can come in before phase-I or even all through the year,” said a placement team executive.

Campus placements in PhD programmes remain relatively lower than those in BTech, MTech programmes across institutes since many students opt for going abroad to pursue post-doctoral fellowships and then get into academia.

“We are all geared up for the upcoming placements season and companies are coming down to register. This year we have made some improvements to get more companies for PhD students who do wish to join the industry. We have filtered out firms that are interested in R&D profiles that besides BTech, MTech, they can also pick PhD students for the same,” said another placement team executive.

Prateek Raj, an assistant professor who teaches strategy at IIM-Bangalore, said the market this year is better than last year. “In the short-term, at least for this year’s placement cycle with respect to institutes like IITs, NITs, IIMs, the market will probably be buoyant. Also, with the US elections and Donald Trump’s win, a conservative government is coming to power so it is to be seen how it affects the economy. But for any high-skilled, technology-aided job, it is going to be better. Especially in case of MNCs or globally connected firms that usually recruit students from IITs, the scenario looks much better than what it was a year ago,” he said.