You can be forgiven to think there hasn’t been a worse year than 2020 for final year students. These students have been robbed of their long-awaited farewell but are also left in a fix regarding exams.
But that’s not half the issue. There’s no more prominent worry for a college student than poor campus placements. After all, that is the point around which college students have been selling their courses-high placement opportunities.
A survey by FirstNaukri.com revealed an astonishing figure of 82% of students, including B.Tech students, have either experienced a delay in placements, suffered a rollback, or are still waiting to hear back. Internships aren’t far behind, with over 74% offers being denied to final year students.
Here, we discuss the trends among college placements in 2020 and how you can find a way through this dry spell.
Survey results on the impact of COVID-19 on-campus placements
FirstNaukri.com analyzed data of approximately 1300 final year students, the majority of whom were B.Tech and Computer Science Engineering students.
As unemployment increased due to the pandemic, BBA LLB and other newly-graduated students were fearful of a lack of placement opportunities. Their fears were not unfounded as only one-third of the final year students confirmed to have had a job offer in hand since the pandemic.
Approximately 44% of students have confirmed that their joining dates have been delayed, while another 9% have unfortunately had their job offers rolled back.
Another third has been trying to contact the employers, to no avail. Job descriptions, even on online portals, are obsolete, and companies don’t have vacancies even for recently graduated B.Tech CSE students.
The picture, however, is a lot brighter on the online portals. A few companies have delayed or withdrawn job offers to computer science engineering and other graduates.
Companies who have delayed and withdrawn job offers
With a significant share of sectors taking a severe blow, additional restrictions on countries’ borders, and a complete shutdown of industries like travel and hospitality, job offers were bound to be revoked.
As the demand for and movement of cabs have taken a hit, Uber has revoked job offers given to students from premier business schools like IIM, SP Jain Student of Management and Research, and more. Students are forced to sit jobless after completing their three year BBA Course duration.
Even the world’s largest oil field service companies have had to revoke jobs and reduce internship opportunities at 6 IIMs and IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur.
All these events have left a question on the job security of BBA LLB, B tech, and other graduates of even top business schools and engineering colleges. As recession looms, the effects are going to be felt in all sectors.
But it isn’t all bad either. Reputed companies who have managed to stay afloat have chosen to honour the offers given to final year graduates.
Companies who have honoured job offers
Tech Giants like Google, TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, PayU, Accenture, and Capgemini have honoured the placement hires despite their bleak economic profits.
Companies are working on data analysis, monitoring, and video conferencing technologies to stay afloat and bring in more workforce. FMCG giants like Pepsi, Hindustan Unilever, Godrej along with consultancy giants like Mckinsey and Boston Consulting Group are worthy places to apply.
Banking companies like Kotak Mahindra, ICICI, Axis, and Citi have also honored job offers they gave to graduates who have completed their BBA course duration.
So what are your options now? How can you grow during this time instead of barely surviving?
How companies and students are looking at alternative methods to grow
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Freelancing and Work From Home Internships
As Work From Home becomes an integral and perhaps mandatory part of working today, students are increasingly getting inclined to it. As per the survey, as much as 83% of students consider Freelancing as a practical career option.
Companies are also using online job portals to list work from home and freelance jobs as per their requirements, especially in the marketing industry and those that would appeal to B.Tech CSE students.
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Remote Interviews
Instead of using the challenging procedure of in-office interviews, interviewers are now looking at video conferencing options to take remote meetings to hire for remote positions.
It’s time for you to prepare for such interviews and not take them casually. Your personality, body posture, and such parameters are still essential to landing the job.
The usage of platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed has also taken a rise.
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Online Training Programs
A lot of colleges and universities offer training programs and internships to make their students ready for the upcoming challenges. Having more skill than one is valuable at a time when job opportunities are far and few.
The uncertainty is prevalent- Until then, use this time to hone your skills or learn new ones, equip yourself for a full gamut of opportunities.
