Online placements draw mixed response at IITs

No offline tests, campus visits or face-to-face interviews, students of the 2020-21 batch at IITs across the country were recruited online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic this year.  

Across IITs, the first phase of placements took place in the first two weeks of December, while the second phase started sometime in January this year and continued till June 2021. 

As this was the first time that the entire placement drive was conducted online, IITs had to face a lot of challenges. Shiksha talks to top IITs and students recruited through online campus placement drive in 2020-21. Scroll down to read the full story. 

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, IIT Madras managed to place 1,047 students from the 2020-21 batch, compared with 1,078 the previous batch. IIT Delhi students got around 1,100 offers (including multiple job offers and pre-placement offers) in 2020-21.  

A total of 686 students were placed during the online campus placement drive at IIT Guwahati in 2020-21 against 691 the preceding year. The highest package offered was Rs 70 lakh per annum, while the average CTC was Rs 21.42 lakh per annum. 

At IIT Patna, students received 223 job offers against 202 the previous year. The highest package offered was Rs 54.57 lakh per annum and Rs 52.50 lakh per annum for BTech and MTech students, respectively.  

When contacted, BV Ravi Shankar, training and placement officer at IIT Bombay, said, “The whole placement process was virtual, so we faced a lot of challenges. There were several international companies and public sector undertaking (PSUs) that were expected to participate in the process, but it did not happen. Some of the students did not even appear for the interview as they were not interested in the profiles that were available. We used the latest communication tools such as Zoom, Google Meet, MS Teams to connect the students with the interviewers. We had provided national and international companies with the software and communication tools to help them in the recruitment process.” 

An IIT Delhi spokesperson said, “Placement season at IIT Delhi for the 2020-21 academic year concluded with around 1,100 offers (including multiple job offers and pre-placement offers). Placement was good despite the pandemic situation. The virtual processes worked well. We quickly adapted to the situation.”  

When asked about the average and highest package, he said, “IIT Delhi has decided not to mention high-value packages as it is felt that undue publicity to packages devalues national placements over international job offers.”  

Prof Kantesh Balani, Chair, Students’ Placement Office, IIT Kanpur, said, “More than 300 organisations took part in campus placements. The highest domestic package offered was Rs 82 lakh per annum, whereas the highest international package offered was Rs 1.47 crore per annum. The complete process was online this time. Overall, it was highly satisfying in terms of placements at IIT Kanpur despite the pandemic blues.” 

Online placement process stressful, ineffective, say new recruits 

Utkarsh from IIT Delhi said, “The placement season was really different and stressful. As everything was virtual, we also faced hardware and connectivity issues during the interview. Companies were also facing problems and some even backed out from the whole placement process. I am currently working with HCL technologies’ product division ERX. I got a chance to give interviews to only four companies. Companies in which I was interested were less. I was placed on the fourth day and once you are placed, you are not allowed to sit further.” 

Tarun Agarwal from IIT Kanpur said, “The online hiring process was ineffective. Normally, before the placement drive, we discuss several job-related things with our seniors to prepare for interviews, but as institutes were shut, there was no networking. We could not interact much with others, which affected our preparation. Some companies conducted the test, but went away without recruiting anyone. Also, many students belonging to remote areas faced network issues and were not able to take tests. I have received a job offer from Intel and will be joining the company as design engineer on August 2. I am satisfied with my salary package.” 

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