How to prepare for campus placements: The campus placements season will start in the next few weeks and we hope all the students who're eligible for campus placements; the ones who are in third / final year have chalked out a plan to prepare for the placements. This placements season is going to be a bit tighter than the previous seasons given the current economic situations and the general slow-down in re-skill the hiring process. Only the best of the best will have the chance at grabbing the jobs and that means, the ones who start preparing earlier will be ahead of the competition Tip: The preparation will start with some survey - 1. Which companies visit your college/university for placements? (Viz. Infosys, TCS, Salesforce, Cognizant, ADB, L&T and so on) 2. What are the recruitment procedures for each of the companies? 3. What is the general intake? For example, there are colleges where the big IT companies recruit in hundreds! This will help you decide the level of competition you're likely to face. 4. What is the eligibility criteria? This is very important because it will help you eliminate the companies you should be preparing for. With all of the above information at your disposal, you may start your entire prepwork in following manner - 1. Back To The Roots: A lot of candidates tend to ignore this, but the most important thing in your selection process is going to be your knowledge of engineering topics - that you've studied over the last 2-3 years. All of your efforts will go waste if you lack the basic knowledge of the subjects. Forget mugging up and reproducing - something that you're used to do for the exams. Instead, revise all the subjects 'for yourself'! 2. Pick Your Favorite Engineering Subject / Topic: Interviewers make their job easier by asking you for your favorite engineering subject. Now, you should really be very well prepared to handle this question. Once you tell the interviewers your favorite topic; expect a few questions related to it. It's natural that you should be prepared to answer questions on your favorite engineering subject or topic. If you haven't already decided, it'd be worth going back to all the topics and find out the one which you found the most interesting. 3. Aptitude Tests : This is where the first eliminations will begin - the aptitude tests. Lot of engineering students fear the aptitude tests. But the fact is that there's nothing to worry about because it's *VERY EASY* to crack aptitude tests. All it takes it practice! Yep! You read that right. Just keep on practicing and in a month or two - you will solve all the aptitude questions like a pro. Don't expect to master the aptitude skills in just a week or two. At least 1.5-2 months is the minimum required time. 4. Written & Spoken English: Like it or not; but the Indian job markets demand people who can speak and write correct English. Unfortunately - very few people pay attention to their communication skills. If you think you need to sharpen your English speaking / writing skills; then NOW is the time to do it. It's going to help you in your entire career. Trust me, a lot of people unnecessarily get rejected because they can't communicate or express themselves. 5. Interview (Technical) : Most companies want to ensure that their employees are proficient in at least one programming language. Beyond C,C++ and JAVA – see if you can also showcase Cloud Computing in your skillset – they are the hot flavor of the season and will help you stand out from the crowd. 6. Interview (HR): If you think that clearing apti and technical rounds ensures that you're selected, the wait a minute - many times, overconfident candidates get rejected in HR interviews - something that shouldn't happen to you. So take the HR interviews seriously! But that doesn't mean you should have a serious expression on your face. All you're expected in an HR interview is to be yourself, have a smiling face, don't be over confident and be excited about the things. Don't overdo anything! 7. Build Your Skills Showcase Portfolio: When there are thousands of other engineering students preparing for the same job that you are preparing for, your chances of getting selected are going to go down. How do you stand out from the competition? Well, the answer is simple - "Do something others aren't doing" like Mentioning your Skillset in resume in Cloud Computing eco-system i.e., Databases, Programming, Analytics in Cloud. That is, have something that others don't have. If you are looking for an IT job; why not work on a few pet software development projects on your own and list them on your resume? For example, you could develop a very simple project or projects - like a Saas or Paas Projects,which can be access from any device from anywhere, that does something cool - and add it in your resume? When you appear for interview, do not forget to bring the interviewer's attention to your projects. I'm sure they'll be more impressed to see that you've gone beyond academics and done something on your own. If you are from non-IT background, add something to your resume that shows that you are doing something more. It could be a research or observation about something that you've studied, some practical study or research or a mechanical design, a computer model, a robot, a drone something like that. what are the typical stages of a campus recruitment process. > Written Test (Aptitude and (or) Technical) > Group Discussion (Not for all) > Technical and (or) HR Interview Coming Soon : > TIPS AND TRICKS To Crack The Video Synthesis Round