7 common mistakes made by students during Campus Placements & Advice from experts at leading B-Schools

Mistakes made by students during Campus Placements & Advice from experts at leading B-Schools

The final phase of students’ journey at a B-school is marked by the Placement season when companies come to their campus for recruitment. The placement record of a B-school is one of the most important aspects students keep in mind while choosing a management institute for admission. This aspect becomes all the more important during times of recession.

At times like these it becomes all the more crucial for students to put their best foot forward to secure a great job with a good profile topped with a great package. Swati Sharma, MBA from Ansal Institute of Technology shares her experience on the same saying, “I entered the job market in 2008 when recession hit and it was really difficult for me to get into finance, my field of choice, as most companies were just looking for sales people and I definitely did not want that, so I did what I felt best and waited for the right opportunity to come along which everyone including my professors said was a wrong choice at that time”.  

So what is it that a student needs to do right so as to impress the recruiters? Shiksha gets you insights from experts of leading B-schools of the country on what to do and what not to do during your campus recruitment.

7 Common mistakes made by students during campus placements

Students do not do complete homework before interview

Campus Placement: Mistakes to Avoid

Most experts feel that students do not perform detailed, in-depth research before facing their recruiters. Dr Godwin Tennyson, chairperson, Placement & External Relations of IIM Tiruchirappalli feels that a students should follow three things before sitting for an interview which are: Know yourself, know your company and know the job role.

Prof Tennyson says that most often students put in many things in their CV which might be copied from their friends. He warns that one should strictly refrain from doing this. Students should try and build a simple and at the same time powerful CV which talks volumes about them, their sphere of interest and experience. He also feels that one should have a thorough knowledge of the company as well as the profile they have on offer. He elaborates, “Students should know all the details of a company for which they plan to sit for an interview, and in today’s time when we have the power of the Internet, it is very easy for them to do their homework right. “ He further added to this by saying, “Students should know everything about the company; how the company is doing in the market, their main products and services along with the profiles they have on offer. If on the day of the interview a student is not clear about the company then recruiters take this to be that he is not interested in joining their company.”   

Students are not clear about the role/profile being offered to them

Most leading B-school placement experts feel that students tend to ape their peers and thus are not actually clear with what they want to do or what they actually are good at. IMT Ghaziabad’s Head Corporate Relation Vishal Goyal says that, “Often students let go of a job profile saying that they do not want to do sales and only want a marketing job. But the thing here is that they will be good at marketing only when they have that sales experience. So early in their careers they should not be so choosy. They should be flexible.” Experts also reveal that often students pick up jobs only on the basis of the company name and do not really give a thought to what profile is being offered to them. Prof Goyal recommends here that students should do a complete research of the profile or job role a company is offering to them along with an in-depth research of the company. Adding to this he says, “Intelligent students do year round research of company options and profile options and do not start searching about profiles only 15 days prior to the day companies come to their campus. “Dr. Tennyson of IIM Tiruchirappalli recommends here that, “If a student is unclear about the role on offer, it is better that he confirms it on the interview day and there is nothing wrong in doing this.”

Students are not relaxed, confident and are ‘not themselves’

Experts feel that students tend to get nervous on the day of the interview and end up putting up a façade. Their word of caution here is that avoid this at all costs as the recruiters are very well experienced and they would be able to quickly see through it in an instant. Adding to this, IIM Bangalore’s Chairperson for Career Development Services, Sankarshan Basu feels that, “Students should be relaxed and confident on the day of the interview. They should be themselves and maintain their individuality as recruiters are looking for that in their ideal candidate.”  Prof Basu also added here that, “If a student doesn’t know something, it is better to say ‘I do not know it’, which is a perfectly acceptable answer rather than running around the surface of a subject and making things up.”

Do not have an honest CV

Another common mistake made by students during placements is that they get carried away and do not put in the actual truth in their CV. They tend to put in over-the-top skills so that they look impressive in front of recruiters. Confirming this, Dr. Tennyson says that, “Students often get excited during placements and feel that they should give themselves a boost in their CV. However, this is not the ideal practice; the best thing to do is keep your CV simple and put in the truth about your skills.” He further adds that, “On the interview day, the recruiter wants to see the knowledge level a student has and how confident he is”. Prof. Goyal of IMT Ghaziabad feels the same in this regard and further adds that a student’s CV should be strong enough to highlight him or her among his peers, “Students feel that the placement cell will promote them, but this is not the case, no company makes compromises, they select high value and intelligent people and that is not on reference of placement cell. So do not think placement cell will promote you. You need to sell yourself better and that you can do only with a good CV and good knowledge.”

Expectations of students are too high

Experts feel that students also make a huge mistake by thinking too highly of themselves and keeping their expectations sky high during placements. Prof Goyal shares his experience in this regard and adds that most of the times students feel that a given company is not up to their standards. Another misconception that students have is that they will get placed easily and quickly and due to this they let go of good offers made to them as they feel that an even better opportunity is waiting for them. Elaborating on this, he further adds that, “Students often leave good companies in the beginning due to their unrealistic expectations and later they make compromises due to peer pressure on seeing the offers their friends got and then they tend to accept the wrong company and profile.” He firmly objects to such a behaviour by stating that this is the biggest mistake one can make as this is a decision made in haste and not by rational calculation and such a practice often ends with students hopping from company to company because they left the right opportunity for a better salary package or a better company, which at the end of the day may not visit the campus.

Leave jobs because of package

One aspect which is the topmost criteria for students to select or reject a job offer is the package that is offered to them and if you go by the opinion of experts this should be avoided at all costs. Elaborating on this IMT’s Head of Corporate Relations says, “Students let go of a role offered to them because of the package offered without even giving a thought to the (good) profile offered to them. This is the biggest blunder.” He further explains this behavior of students  by an example, “ Even when their profile, which is say, online marketing is offered to them but salary is one lakh less from their expectations, they let go of the offer.  They feel only package matters and nothing else.” Dr. Tennyson adds his thoughts on this by stating that in order to discourage such a trend, IIM Tiruchirappalli gives special training and guidance sessions to help students take informed decisions during placement. Students are also explained that the primary factor to narrow down and select jobs should be on the profile offered to them and not the package.

Think of final selection rounds as practice interviews

Many a times students also sit for certain interviews just to get a better feel of what an actual recruitment process is like. In most such cases they refuse an offer made only by stating that it was not their ‘dream company’ or they just wanted to practice for their actual big day. Experts feel that a student should never treat the final selection rounds as a practice session. This will not only create a bad impression for them but they may unknowingly be stealing someone else’s chance of getting placed. Prof. Goyal feels, “Students often think that they can give mock interviews when companies come to their campus. But please don’t do this as this can offend the recruiting company and they may even blacklist a campus because of such behaviour.” He further adds to this by saying, “Do not kill the chances of another candidate to get placed, it might not be your dream offer but it certainly can be someone else’s.” he further adds that at IMT, Ghaziabad students are strictly advised against this and the college’s faculty is always open to conduct grilling sessions for students to get better acquainted with what they can expect in their final selection rounds.

In the end, experts from leading B-schools of India advice students that they refrain from accepting an offer and thereafter, not joining the company. As this not only shows them in poor light but may end up branding their college as a ‘hostile campus’ by recruiters.

IIM-B’s, Sankarshan Basu concludes by saying that during placement one thing students should definitely keep in mind and follow is to look like complete professionals because recruiters are not looking to hire unprofessional individuals.

Vishal Goyal of IMT Ghaziabad advises students to keep a minimum 10-15 companies in a bracket and be open to joining any company in that bracket. He further says, “Do not expect to get extremely plum jobs right at the start of your career. Expectations are not bad but they should not be unrealistic. Learn tricks of the trade and fundamentals first.”

IIM Tiruchirappalli’s Dr. Godwin Tennyson emphasizes that students should select a job offer only on the basis of the profile offered to them because if the profile is as per the liking of the student he can put his best foot forward and excel in that sphere. At the end of the day, appraisals would depend on the work that they do and they can always earn more money and excel.