In this year campus placement economic threat shown
Though the threat of yet another economic slowdown is looming
large across the world, campus recruitments are in full swing in most engineering
colleges and management institutes in the city. A number of leading institutions
have say that there is a 50 percent increase in the number of placements this year
when compared with the previous year. But opportunities continue to be inadequate
for those opting for arts and science subjects. Only a very small percentage of
such students get selected, mostly for content development and telemarketing.
Although there is growth in the number of vacancies, top institutes confirm that
their pay packages are not as attractive when compared to previous years. The highest
offer this year was 
15 lakh per annum, made by Google, to a student of Coimbatore
Institute of Technology. Microsoft emerged second by offering 12.6 lakh to 13
students of Amritha University. The highest pay package offered to MBA degree holders
in Coimbatore is from Oman-based Khimji Ramdas, engaged in consumer products distribution,
offering 10.5 lakh per annum to an Amrita University management student.
Campus placements are happening in key institutions including Karunya University,
Amrita University, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Kumaraguru College of technology,
Park Group of Institutions, PSG Institute of Technology, Bannariamman Institute
of Technology and Government College of Technology. The average pay package for
management courses comes around 4.2 lakh per year while it is 3.4 for IT graduates.
In the core engineering field, the average salary offered is 3 lakh. Meanwhile,
much hyped courses like aeronautical engineering are failing to attract recruiters.
Anusha R. Mahesh, CEO of Park Group of Institutions said that campus recruitments
have started much earlier this year. "As UGC and NAAC have allowed us to start the
recruitment process by September itself, we were able to win the attention of potential
employers. Major companies including Infosys, Accenture and Mahindra have started
recruiting and we hope that more than 80 percent of the students would get proper
placement," she said.
According to Dr. P. R. Krishnakumar, CEO of Nehru Group of Institutions, many leading
companies including Infosys, HP and HCL have started recruiting from institutions.
In computer related courses, the placement is 85% while in core engineering, it
is 70%," he said. Demand for MBA graduates is mostly from the retail majors including
Spencers, Reliance and finanace majors like HDFC Bank, he added.
K. Senthamaraikannan, the placement officer of Kumaraguru College of Technology says
that this year the placement was very good. "This year we have reached around 87%
already. In a few weeks we will expect to cross 90%," he said. N. Mahendran, placement
officer of Hindustan College of Engineering, also provides a rosy picture. "Last
year we had around 85% placements. This year the placements have started early.
As of now, 5 MNC companies have recruited 106 of our students out of a total of
320," he said.
Among the major IT and IT enabled companies, TCS has already announced that it would
recruit at least 60,000 fresh hands this year. Pagoda, IREVVA, Idea, L&T, Infotech,
Wipro,Ashok Leyland, Robert Bosch, Cognizant, Ford, Amazon and Volvo have already
conducted campus recruitments in Coimbatore. Local firms like Shakthi Sugars and
LMW are also hiring this year.
"For better performance in campus interviews, students much have good
communication skills. Soft skills must be part of the curriculum. As we impart such
skills to our students, they have been successful in campus interviews," said C
Parameswaran, Director, Corporate and International Relations at Amrita University.
Courtesy: Times of India
