Tamil Nadu: No job guarantee even after campus placement
Students wait for weeks, and sometimes months, to get the appointment order leaving them anxious and frustrated
CHENNAI: Many higher education institutions (HEIs), including state-owned and private universities in Tamil Nadu, claim better placement for their students every year. However, inordinate delays in receiving appointment orders and joining dates after getting placed via campus recruitment is common.
Several reasons can contribute to this, including the organisation’s hiring procedure, project requirements, and even the current prevailing situation of the overall job market.
This leaves students confused whether to wait for confirmation, which often takes months, or look for another job. Parents of the wards also get anxious as many are dependent on the jobs to pay off loans, EMIs, organise weddings, etc.
Most companies, especially in the IT sector, give offer letters to students during the placement drive in colleges, which takes place when students still have a semester or a year to complete their graduation. “I’m graduated in BTech Computer Science from a private university in 2024. I got an offer letter immediately from a leading IT company. However, I had to wait till April this year to get the appointment order,” recalled P Vinoth Kumar from Chennai. “I was about to join another company for less pay during the waiting period. But timely assistance from my college’s placement cell helped me to endure.”
Vinoth is not an isolated case. S Kaushik, who recently joined a software company in the city, after getting an offer during the placement drive, also underwent a similar situation. “There is a big communication gap between the placement cell and students who receive job offers. Many companies do not provide a HR contact during the placement drive. Adding to the woes, the company too does not inform students about the exact progress of recruitment during the waiting period.”
However, companies claim that recruiters have a structured process that may involve multiple rounds of interviews, background checks, and approvals. “This is time-consuming, especially in big and multinational companies,” S Sangeetha, an HR consultant in the city said. “The company that hires students from campus has to do a lot of homework, such as background verification by visiting the student’s residence to verify his/her conduct from neighbours. Students should also do the preparatory work by getting a police verification certificate and an affidavit from the advocate, and make copies of the passport, bank account, medical check-up, PAN card, and make changes in the Aadhaar card, if required.”
L Ganesh Kumar, a placement officer in a private college, said that several organisations were fully dependent on client projects and often hired freshers for the job. “Delays in getting these projects can lead to delayed onboarding,” he pointed out. “Appointment orders and joining dates are often connected to project requirements and business demands, which can vary. Students who are awaiting the joining date from the company, should regularly communicate with the placement cell for updates.”
Each year, around 2,000 students in Anna University and its department colleges get job offers. “A placement officer will ensure that every student gets an appointment order,” said a senior professor in the university. “The delay in joining date depends on the company’s policy. However, the approximate date can be informed to students while offering them a job during the placement drive.”
