The placement season for various colleges in India has started and the students are already working hard to grab a campus placement. In this article, we will discuss an effective strategy on how to approach the entire placement season so that you do not take stress on the final day of the interview.
Somethings that we won’t discuss in this article are
- Resume writing – This is given and chances are your college has already given you a template to prepare a resume. If you have to prepare your resume you can read it here: Mistakes Freshers make in a Resume
- Grooming – If you are going to be a professional it is expected from you to be well-groomed, hence we won’t be discussing this here.
What are we going to discuss then?
Due to the Coivd-19 Pandemic, the usual hiring activity of the organizations has reduced, which means the same number of students would be competing for a reduced number of opportunities. You don’t want to rely on just the previous day’s preparation to get selected. Here we will give you an effective strategy that you can implement across 3-6 months that will make you ready for the final coveted campus selection.
Read this article completely to give yourself a chance to stand out from the competition.
Self – Analysis
The way you know yourself, no-one else will know. Find out your strengths and weaknesses both in terms of academics, skills, and personal traits. Sit in a quiet environment and be completely honest with yourself. Ask yourself what are your strengths and what are your weaknesses. Once you have done that ask your teachers/mentors about the same. Discover as many strengths and as many weaknesses as possible in yourself. The more strengths you have you know what to do and the more weaknesses you have, you know what not to do. During this entire season, you have to improve your strengths and work on your weaknesses. This will help you plan for the job roles that you would like to take.
Shortlist 5 industries and 5 Job roles that you would like to do
If you are an IT student, you know you will be working in the IT industry but you can still narrow down which sector in the IT industry. Like e-commerce/ cybersecurity / ITeS/ Bespoke Software Development etc. If you are an MBA student, and you have taken Finance as a specialization, then narrow it down further to what specific sector in Finance. Equity Research/ Banking/ Credit analysis etc.
Shortlist these industries and job roles basis on what your strengths and weaknesses are. Also as an outsider, you won’t know what are the qualities required in each of these job roles. So go on to different company websites, and read the various job descriptions. Most of the time, the Job descriptions mention the kind of candidates the hiring organization is looking for. Talk to your professors, seniors, alumnus, and ask for their inputs on the roles that you have decided. Specific is Terrific. Be as specific about industries and job roles as possible. This exercise aims to give you as much clarity as possible. So you can visualize yourself in the target job and target industry.
Choose a good Profile over Money
Everyone will take a shot at different profiles. Some will try for or get more packages and some will not. But don’t compare yourself at this moment. You have an entire career to be in that rat race. The goal currently should be to get a profile where you enjoy working. A good profile with an average package will not last long. Similarly, an average profile with a good package too will not take you far in your career. Media / Parents / Peer Group / Relatives all will compare but remember if something goes south and you are stuck in a job that you hate just because of the money it will be tough to perform and at that time no one will come to the rescue. So completely mute out the comparisons.
Re-Read the Basics & Develop Further Understanding
No organization expects you to be a superhero right from day one. However, what they expect is that you know the basics so that they can teach you advanced and practical things. If your basics are solid no-one can stop you from advancing. So be as solid in basics as possible.
Go through previous years’ question papers, other technical practice questions on the internet and increase your understandings of the subjects as deep as possible. You can form a team of 2-3 friends and challenge/debate each other about case studies/technical challenges. Also Discuss Industry Trends, Company Business Models, etc. Be thorough about the industries that you have shortlisted and the products/services of the companies that you have shortlisted.
If you are a coder, try to code as much as possible. See the app/product of your target organization and analyze how is it working. If you are an MBA, discuss different case studies. Analyze the strategies of the companies that you have shortlisted for yourself.
Take Short Term Live Projects / Internships
A lot of organizations give opportunities for students to work on live projects or share short-term internship opportunities. Try to find out such opportunities in your favourite industries and apply for them. Working in a professional environment before your placement season or during your placement season will give you tremendous insights into how the actual industry works. You also will have an upper hand on your resume and one more thing to showcase your skills to the companies that are coming on the campus to hire. You also will have the chance to grab a full-time opportunity at the places that you are doing internships at.
Social Media Cleanup
Keep your social media controversy-free. Keep your views about politics/religion etc to yourself. A lot of companies go through your social media accounts as well to know more about the kind of person you are. So clean up social media incase you troll people on Twitter. Follow the leaders in your industry/field on social media. Leaders in every field share a lot of wisdom on Twitter / Linkedin etc. Follow them and learn from them. Make the right use of Social media to build a brand for yourself. Blog about industry topics and showcase your intellect to the world. This will give you an edge over others. Also open doors for yourself outside campus placements.
What if you are not eligible for Campus Placements?
In case you are not eligible to sit in campus placements, then too, follow all these tips. The main difference between campus placements and placements outside the college is that inside campus you are competing with your batchmates, and outside campus, you are competing with the students from entire India. So as the competition will increase your efforts too will have to be up to the mark. Don’t lose hope and give your best in the preparation. If you are prepared well enough you can convert any opportunity that comes your way.
At Mantras2Success we are hustling in our way to help modern-day professionals with all their career-related queries and concerns. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin, & Spotify and visit our website www.www.mantras2success.com to apply for jobs and more such awesome stuff to help you progress in your career. Do share this article with your friends and help others as well.
Jitu is Co-Founder of Mantras2Success. He has Engineering & MBA degrees to his name, along with 10+ years of corporate work experience in fortune 500 companies. Jitu is passionate about improving the careers of the modern day professional. He would be reading books or watching documentaries if not fulfilling his dreams at Mantras2Success.