Campus Placements | A Beginner’s Guide

As I am enjoying my last few days of freedom, no assignments, no sessionals or deadlines and presentations, I look back to how different this time for those who are entering their final year and those who are leaving! Filled with anxiety, aspiration, elation and disappointment, the Campus Placements are definitely very if not the most important phase of our final year. So dear juniors, here’s my guide to doing your best. I’m not an expert on this matter at all but have a few things to share based on my limited experience.

Before going into the details of the selection process, I’d first like to tell you something which many people don’t follow but what I think is very important. Think before applying! By this time, you should’ve finalized what you want to do after college and you should apply accordingly. There are a few things you should consider before you apply to any company in order of importance (the order may vary person to person)

1.      Profile & Job Description

This is the most important thing for me. Make sure you thoroughly read which role the company is hiring for and how it fits into what you like, what your abilities are, what your short-term and long-term career goals are and what is the typical career path of that profile.

2.      The Company

It is not just about what you do but also about where you do it. Visit the website of the company and see if you’d fit in, what value it adds to your CV and what kind of services/products they’re into.

3.      Package

No explanation needed here, higher the better!

4.      Location

This is something that shouldn’t matter, but it does. Be sure you’re comfortable living in whichever city the company is based in.

Once you’re sure you want to apply, you’d be asked to fill a form which will have all the necessary details the company wants.

The selection process usually has five rounds (all companies have different structures but this is what most companies follow).

1.       The Pre-Placement Talk (PPT)

2.       The Shortlisting Test

3.       The Group Discussion (GD)

4.       Technical Interview

5.       HR Interview

The Pre-Placement Talk
Some people may be intrigued as to why this is mentioned as a selection round, but hear me out. The PPT is where an employee of the company gives a talk on what the company does and why you should join it. But that’s not all. I look at this as a two-way pitch. It’s not just the company which is pitching itself but this is the perfect opportunity for you to make a killer first impression. Once the talk is over, the employee would ask if you guys have any questions. This is your chance. Ask good and thought through questions which leave an impression. Good question would be ‘How do you tackle the _________ challenge in your industry’ or ‘Can doing ______________ improve the product, is this something that can be done?’ Basically questions that portray that you’ve not only done your research about the company and the industry, but you are already thinking like a problem-solving employee.

The Shortlisting Test
The test usually has verbal, quants, logical reasoning and technical questions (relevant to the profile). You need some practice to perform well in the test as almost half of those who apply are rejected at this stage. You can ask your seniors about which books/sites they referred for this as it varies a lot.

The Group Discussion
Here, a topic would be given to the group and you have to discuss the topic for a stipulated time. There are a few misconceptions about what a group discussion is. Firstly, it is a discussion, not a debate. Too much prime-time news watching makes us believe that we’re supposed to prove our point in a GD. In fact, the GD is more about discussing all aspects about the topic regardless of your personal beliefs. The topics can range from something as sensitive as the #MeToo movement to absolutely abstract as Purple. (Yeah, one of the groups got ‘Purple’ as their topic of discussion. Not even kidding).

 A few important tips: It’s not just about talking but also about listening, don’t make it into an Arnab Goswami Debate and let everyone speak. Be careful about what you’re saying and don’t offend anyone, especially when it comes to sensitive topics like religion, etc. Interact with others, don’t just say your points but also agree, disagree with people on the group. If you have very less time to discuss, one or two interventions with very crisp and insightful points would be enough. It is about quality and not quantity.

Technical Interview
This interview round is all about the core knowledge and application required for the job. It varies quite a bit from profile to profile. But there are a few questions which are most common.

The first one is the easiest and the most difficult: Tell me something about yourself. Easy for the interviewer, difficult for the interviewee. It is difficult because we are so busy knowing about Compressors, Gears, Programs, Flow charts and what not that most of us know nothing about ourselves. Your introduction is not a paragraph version of your CV! They’ve already read your CV and they expect something interesting about where and how you grew up, what you like to do, or anything that differentiates yourself from others. Make sure you include something differentiating you in the introduction (I, for example, told that I’m the fourth person from my family to study from VNIT Nagpur and third from Mechanical Dept at VNIT). It doesn’t have to be anything related to the job.

Another common question is about your short-term and long-term career goals. I like to answer this question a bit vaguely; I think it is more about what you want to do rather than which position/company/industry you want to be in. My typical answer would be about how I’d like to contribute creatively in the organization I work in and get into leadership roles in the long-term and make an impact.

A quick search on the internet will give you the list of FAQs.You should have proper prepared answers for these questions. Other than these, the technical questions vary a lot and you should ask your seniors about their experience and questions asked.

The HR Interview
This interview exists only to test your communication skills. If you are good at Spoken English, you’re good to go. If you aren’t, I’d suggest learning these skills from speeches or TV series. Personally, I binge watched Obama speeches on YouTube to learn to speak fluently and be impactful. :P

A few other tips:

1.       Being original is highly underrated. I’d strongly suggest you not to follow any templates for your answers. Be innovative, be yourself and be different. Companies know the value of diverse opinions and different points of view! I have a compulsive need to crack lame jokes. And I did crack one in my interview too! I don’t advice you to do that, but I did it because I was being natural and not forcing myself to fit in a mould. Be Original, bohot scope hai.

2.       It’s about finding a match, not being the best. Let me ask you a question, which is a better car- a Ferrari Enzo or Maruti Alto? The obvious answer is the Ferrari. But why do so many people buy the Maruti instead of the Ferrari? Because it suits their needs better! This is exactly what happens here. Companies are looking for a certain kind of person, not the best person. The kind of person which suits their needs better would be preferred over the better candidate in general. Don’t get disheartened if you get rejected.

3.       What has happened has happened. Many people are left out because of their pointer, that is a fact. Having a below-average pointer myself, I know exactly what you might feel if you don’t have a good pointer. But the thing is, the pointer is a measure of your sincerity and compatibility with the system, not your intelligence, knowledge, passion or anything else. And the companies know it! If you’re able to convince the interviewer that your pointer doesn’t define you and there are so many things you bring on board that can’t be summarized in a number, you have a fair chance of getting selected. I got selected in the first company I applied to because of the same reason. Believe in yourself!

4.       Everything on the CV is open for questions. If you’re unsure about something or don’t remember the coding language you studied in school or anything that you’re not comfortable answering questions on should be off your CV! I made the mistake of putting C Language on my CV even though I hadn’t touched it after 1^st year. Thankfully I was asked a very basic question on it or else I would be screwed!

5.       You’re not going for higher studies (even if you are). I myself wanted to go for MBA right after college, but those plans change very fast! Even if you’re thinking something today you may make a 180 degree shift tomorrow. If there are any questions on your future plans, do not mention the CAT/GATE/GRE classes you’ve been attending or that you’re giving that exam this year. I had changed my mind the very next day after getting the job and that can happen to you too. Exams are unpredictable and if you don’t do well this year, you’re neither here nor there.

6.       You’re not expected to know everything! Some people simply make stuff up if they don’t know the answer. That does more harm than good. If you don’t know something, just tell them that you don’t know it! No one knows everything under the Sun, not you, not the interviewer, the Prime Minister or anyone else. It’s okay! That being said, the fewer things you know lesser are your chances but one unanswered question is fine.

7.       Think your answers through. Don’t be impulsive. If you need some time to think over, ask for it. You can do some loud thinking here, a great way to let the interviewers know how you think.

8.       Give everything a positive spin. If you’re asked a negative question, or you don’t know an answer say that in a positive way. Instead of saying ‘I don’t know’, say ‘I need to read more on that topic’. If you’re asked about your weaknesses, saying ‘I need to improve on my_____’ is better than ‘I am bad at ____’. A positive outlook is essential in all aspects for the company!

9.       At the campus level, most companies recruit based on your potential, not your current abilities. All companies have at least 2 months of training where they teach you what all is needed. The assumption is that if you’ve learnt well till now you’d do so there as well. This is why pointer becomes important. But if you’ve learnt something outside of the classroom, through extra-curriculars etc. make sure you mention those learnings to improve your chances.

10.   Most importantly, be confident! All jobs require you to communicate with your peers, managers, seniors, clients or customers. Confidence is contagious. If you are confident in what you say, others will be confident in you too!

You can read my campus placement experience at http://studentportal.vnit.ac.in/exp_placed/40/

The VNIT Student Portal is a Gold Mine for knowing everyone’s experience! This is a great initiative and could’ve helped us a lot if it were there last year. You have the provisions, make the most of it! Visit- studentportal.vnit.ac.in and navigate through ‘Experiences’ tab to read.

Other than all these things, placements are a lot about what you’re able to do on that day and you’d see many deserving candidates wait a long time to get placed and many undeserving candidates being selected just because they’re good on that day. The process is pretty random that way. Whatever happens, be chill and know that getting or not getting a job is not a reflection of what you’re capable of or what you can achieve.

All the Best!

Ritvik Joshi
Placed as a Business Analyst at Quantiphi, Inc. through Campus Placements.
B.Tech. Graduate | National Institute of Technology, Nagpur
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritvik-joshi/