Job-hunting IITians turn to start-ups

MUMBAI: The global slowdown has arrived at the IITs too. And campus placements have taken a big hit. From vying for the very best in the corporate world, students may have to scale down their ambitions and career plans, at least for now. Alarmed by a significant downturn in its campus placement scenario, IIT Bombay is approaching start-up companies to beat the recession heat.

According to a source close to the development, IIT Bombay's placement record, which was extremely impressive last year with nearly 100% placements, has posted a 40% dip in the first phase of campus placement in the current academic year.

The poor response has forced the authorities to extend the date of placement for this academic year till April. Earlier, the placements used to close in two to three weeks in previous years. "The number of recruiters who used to visit the campus has come down and also the offers. We have started to approach start-up companies for placement," said a placement coordinator from IIT Bombay, who did not wish to be named.

Last year, out of 74 students in the computer and engineering division, all got campus recruitment offers except two. But this year, out of 94 students, only 50% students have got offers so far, he added.

"We are now focusing on phase 2 of the placement process in this academic session and are approaching start-up and services-based companies in the country," said another source.

However IIT Bombay professor incharge Subash Babu told ET that there is a marginal impact on campus placement due to the economic meltdown. "We were expecting a slowdown in placement, considering the present economic downturn. This year the ratio of placement till now is 4:4 compared to 4:5 last year." 300 students have got placements in various companies in nine days of placement process, Mr Babu said. However, he refused to divulge the total number of students who had applied for placement.

According to an analyst from a leading consulting firm, there has been a drastic cut in hiring at the junior level. "There is a cut of more than 60% at the freshers level and this is adding to the woes of the engineering graduates," he said. Even after an interview, the probability of getting a job is very less, the analyst added.

Some of the big companies who have been regular at IIT Bombay placements include the Tata Group, Godrej, e-Clerx, Cadbury, Marico, Citibank, Accenture, Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Bristlecone, Anand Group, Mahindra British Telecom, GECIS, JP Morgan Chase, SBI Caps and the SBI. Nearly 80% of them were present this year as well. In 2007, around 200 companies visited the IIT Bombay placement campaign organised by the institute.

Over 100 candidates benefited from the campaign. Many students from IIT Bombay also received international offers from global companies.

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