$trategy to ace In-Campus & Off-Campus Placements for Core Job$

"Placement woes"

The pre-final year of graduation can be very stressful for a student. It is one of the most dreaded time in one's life. Each one of you would have a burning desire to be placed in your dream core company. There are a lot of confusions about the pattern, different rounds, things to study, dress code, Group Discussions & Interview. Different companies may have different criteria for the selection/rejection process. If you are a Phunsuk Wangdu, this post is not for you, For rest of the common us, I have simplified the entire recruitment process in following steps :-

1. Minimum Eligibility Criteria

Companies set up a minimum percentage of marks to appear for it's recruitment process. One of the most common minimum eligibility criteria of companies is 60% each in Class X, XII and upto Pre-final year without any arrears. Some high end companies may even demand minimum 80%.

2. Recruitment Process

The general recruitment process can be divided into following 2-3 rounds. Only after clearing one round you can move to the subsequent round.

Round 1: Aptitude Exam - Elimination Round

This exam tests analytical, reasoning and comprehension skills of the candidates and basically used to separate the grain from the chaff. This is a cut throat elimination round. The question paper is MCQ type with only one correct option. Serious preparation is required for students who are completely out of touch with basics. Taking this round lightly can be fatal as maximum number of students appear in this round. 

It comprises of following sections :-

Quantitative Aptitude (QUANT) -  

It includes problems related to Number System, Time & Work, Percentage,  Profit-Loss, Mixture, Alligation, Probability, Permutation & Combination, Clock & Calendar, Height & Distance, Basic 2-D geometry etc.

Although the topics may sound easy but the companies tend to increase the level of complexity manifold. It won't be a problem if you are following my Do's & Dont's from the first to last day in college. But if you aren't, you should get down to business and start preparing Quant with a focused approach to learn as many short cut methods as possible. 

One of the most useful and lucid book for beginners in this regard is Fast Track Objective Arithmetic. It will give you all necessary tools to clear any Aptitude round. An advanced version of Quant can be practiced from Quantitative Aptitude by Arun Sharma which will give you an ultimate edge over your friends turned competitors. 

Verbal Ability & Comprehension

This comprises of problems related to Analogies, Fact & Inference, Syllogisms, Assertion & Reason, Logical Deductions, English comprehension, Rules of General English, Use of articles and prepositions etc. For just marking correct answers in exam, you need to follow Arihant Objective English by SP Bakshi. If you are in the start of Pre-final year then you can go for Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension by Arun Sharma. Even though the book is made for CAT aspirants but the basics and short cuts given in this book have better time-benefit ratio.

Analytical Reasoning 

This section is tricky and requires serious practice since all statements looks one and the same. It includes - Strengthening & Weakening arguments, Statements & Assumption or Conclusions, Cause & Effect, Venn Diagrams, Data Sufficiency, Pictorial diagrams, Data Interpretation etc.

You can either follow Analytical Reasoning by MK Pandey or you can go with Arihant Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning which will be cost effective and compact since it will cover both Analytical and Verbal Reasoning questions.

General Knowledge & Current Affairs

The questions are simple if you are in touch with current affairs. If you have followed my advise to regularly read "The Hindu" or "The Indian Express" newspaper as given in my College Do's and Don'ts, you don't need to study anything for this section. But if you haven't, you should purchase a Golden book called Lucent General Knowledge. Along with this you can quickly skim through the summary of Press Information Bureau, Government of India and read about developments in Science and Technology, New schemes launched by government, Winners of sports, cultural and other distinguished awards, etc.

Round 2: Technical Exam - Selection Round (For Core Companies)

This round tests your knowledge about the graduation subject. Exam is mainly MCQ based with only one correct option. It focuses on easy formula based questions and subject basics which are expected of you. If you have maintained notes of all the subjects through out your graduation then you can revise them with ease. You won't need any extra material in this case. 

But if not, you need comprehensive books containing basic theory and a lot of MCQ questions. Engineering students generally believe in studying from xerox notes and throw them after the semester. They can use GATE Textbooks of their respective branches. Similarly, graduates of other stream can opt for CBSE-UGC NET Textbooks. They have a good amount of theory and a lot of MCQs. Questions are verbatim lifted from the these books in the technical exam round of in & off campus placements. These books will also be useful if you plan to give competitive government exams after your graduation.

Don't try to cheat in any of the above 2 rounds. If the invigilator happens to be an official of the company, it gives an instant bad impression and can cost you heavily in the following round.

Round 3: Ground Discussion & Interview - Final Round

According to the number of students screened in the previous rounds, company can choose to conduct Group Discussions or Interview or both. Some important points to remember are:-

1. Don't be late. 

2. Wear neatly ironed light coloured formals, clean shoes, non-stinky socks & don't do anything fancy. 

3. No strong deodorants. 

4. Nothing irritates the interviewer more than a ringing phone. So switch off your cell phones before beginning of this round. 

5. Be courteous and enter the room with smile. You must behave even before entering the room. 

6. In a GD, try to take roles in initiating, encouraging or summarizing or a combination of these.

    Speak your mind out confidently, be a empathetic listener. Always look actively involved. 

 I can also write a separate post on Group Discussions roles and Interview skills, if asked by my readers in majority.

If you follow the above steps and get selected. Don't forget to party. Party Hard !

In my college days, when some one in our friend circle got placed, we had a tradition of ripping that formal shirt off his body. It was our way of letting our friend know what his placement means for us :P 

We did this when one of our's friend shirt was not getting ripped due to its weird "बोरा type strength"

My friend was fortunate that he was not in that shirt

Enjoy this whole competitive phase. It will teach you a lot of things. You will learn how to handle pressure of not getting selected and watching all your dear friends being selected. You will be happy for your friends with all your heart but will be sad that you can't join the party yet. 

But don't lose hope. Your day will come for sure and trust me when it will come, you will be unstoppable, it will be the sweetest days of all and your friends will be equally happy for you at that time.