Chennai: Despite the revaluation scam that rocked Anna University, the premier technical university has had a bright start to its campus placements in recent years with 250 students getting offers from top 40 companies including Microsoft, Goldman Sachs and Samsung R and D.
The scams unearthed by DVAC last month have not affected the reputation of the university as recruiters turned out in usual numbers during the first month of campus recruitment.
Besides Microsoft, Citi Corp, Qualcomm, Zoho have participated in the recruitment drive and among the core companies Dove chemicals, Samsung R and D, Cypress, Caterpillar, RBS and Bharathi Airtel took part in the campus recruitment.
Uber India which visited the university for the first time has offered 36 lakhs per annum to a student.
From four campuses of the university, more than 1,500 students have expressed their interest in participating in campus recruitment. Totally, 400 companies expressed their interest to participate in the campus recruitment. Of over 1,900 students who had registered for placements last year, 1,226 (68 per cent) students received offers.
Microsoft has increased its highest offer from Rs 22.38 lakh last year to Rs 39 lakh this year. Likewise, Goldman Sachs has increased its offer from Rs 16 lakh to 22 lakh.
“There is an increase in the number of IT companies participating in the campus placements and increase in their pay package this year. We also have seen an increase in the number of internships offered,” said T.Thyagarajan, Director, Centre for University-Industry Collaboration (CUIC) in Anna University said.
The university is hoping to place more than 75 per cent students this year. In the short period of one and half month, 140 students from the third year have received internship offers from many core companies including Samsung R and D. They have even offered the handsome stipend of Rs 25,000 to 50,000 per month to these students. Arcesium India offered Rs 1 lakh as a stipend to the students.
UG students received internship offers up to 2 to 3 months and PG students received internship offers up to six months. “We expect 300 offers from each of three IT majors - TCS, Infosys, CTS this year. These companies have participated in the recruitment drive on day 1 sharing basis. The campus interview results of these companies yet to be released,” he added.
An HR official from one of the top IT companies said, “For talented students, the opportunities are more. The companies are willing to pay the better salary for better students.”
The business model of IT companies has changed. “Now, the companies are looking for ways to grow without adding more people. It has increased the expectations of students. But, at the same time, the colleges and students could not match the expectations,”he explained.
“Due to the slump in the growth, the IT companies are not able to afford to hire the students and train. The students need to have good programming and communication skills. Still, there is a demand for engineering graduates,” he added.
When asked about whether the image of Anna University was dented by the recent controversy, a top official from the IT industry said, “We are hiring students based on their performance in the interview and not based on their marks.”
Meanwhile, the officials pointed out that the companies are not worried as the revaluation scam happened only in the affiliated colleges and not inside the university campus.
