IIT-B placements first phase: More students without jobs, seek counselling

It’s that time of the year again when the brightest of minds in the country’s leading engineering institutes are busy biting nails and waiting for the best possible job offer

It’s that time of the year again when the brightest of minds in the country’s leading engineering institutes are busy biting nails and waiting for the best possible job offer.

While officials at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) have mentioned that more students from the institute have been placed across industries this year, it has also been noticed that a larger number of students have been left without job offers in the first round itself, and this has led to a visible increase in the number of students seeking counselling.

“Compared to last year itself, almost 15% more students have sought help this time round,” said IIT-B counsellor Amita Tagare who added that there is pressure to get jobs offering good pay packages and this often ends up stressing even the brightest of minds. “While during the rest of the year students share problems of homesickness and academic pressure, this time of the year they are all worried about their future prospects and not being placed in the first round,” said Tagare.

According to sources at the institute, since the beginning of the current phase of placements on December 1, of the nearly 1600 students who registered for jobs 1005 have received offers till Wednesday. The first stage of placements will end in a few days and the next phase is expected to start in January. Last year, around 1000 of 1675 registered candidates were selected the end of first phase. While the numbers of students left without a job offer in the first phase remains similar to last year, counsellors are still accessing the reasons for the rise in the number of students feeling the stress of placements. “I feel with every passing year, students are hoping for bigger packages and more job offers which does not happen, therefore they feel this pressure,” said Tagare.

Students revealed that is not just about peer pressure. Many said that not being picked by top companies in the first round is more stressing because of expectations back home, with parents making regular inquiries.

“Parents end up being pushy and inquire more about the packages received by fellow batchmates than their own children. This obviously adds to the mental pressure children are already under,” said Tagare.

Time and again, steps have been taken by the institute to curb the pressure faced by students. This year, IITs across the country took a strong stand against disclosing the pay packages of student’s to media, following complaints of immense peer and parental pressure. “Parents often end up comparing all pay packages to the salaries of a handful who end up getting crores of rupees. We are glad the institute chose to take this stand and not disclose pay packages anymore,” said one of the students.

With two counsellors on board, meeting the increasing demand of students seeking counselling is becoming difficult. “Placements season tends to give more space for stress to students and therefore there is a steady flow visiting the counsellors. We are in the process of bringing the third counsellor on board soon,” said Prof Soumyo Mukherji, dean, student affairs at IIT-B.