Chennai: As the placement season of 2016-17 comes to a conclusion, placements continue to remain strong at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras this year. The no. of students placed through the Placement Cell went up to 769 this compared to 725 in the preceding academic year of 2015-16. The number of girl students placed has almost doubled, going up from 109 last year to 206 during 2016-17.
Further, 226 companies made 935 job offers this year, while the figures for last year were 213 companies and 872 job offers. The total number of pre-placement offers went up marginally from 69 to 73.
Commenting on the placements in 2016-17, Prof. Manu Santhanam, Advisor, Training and Placement, IIT Madras, said, “There was a marginal increase in the average (and median) salary by about 5%.”
IIT Madras also offers students the option of deferring placements by one year. The main reasons for students opting to defer include working on their own start-ups, applying for higher education or preparing for civil services examinations.
A sector-wise analysis of the placement and recruiting companies reveals that there has been no shift in Core and Research & Development as compared to the preceding year. While there has been a drop in Analytics/Consulting/Finance, this has been offset by increase in IT companies. There was also a greater participation by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
Multinational Technology firm Intel was the top recruiter during the 2016-17, hiring 29 students, mostly from Computer Science Department, during the campus placement. Other top recruiters include Citicorp Services, Samsung RnD, Bangalore, Cognizant Technology Solutions and EATON.
The PSU and Government agencies that visited this year during placements include the Indian Navy, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Coal India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) besides Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). The placement season of 2016-17 also saw more than 50 new companies taking part.
Prof. Santhanam said that a majority of graduating students are placed through the campus Placement Cell. However, some job opportunities also come through their respective department faculty via out-of-placement offers.
The exit data collected before 2016 convocation showed that the entire graduating class had either been placed, opted for higher studies or started their careers as entrepreneurs. The current year’s exit data will be available in August, he added.
