Introduction
Placement season is the most important time for every student in their life. After four years of hard work and continuous learning, one dreams of getting placed in their dream company. Once the placement season starts, the companies come to the campuses and hire students from the respective colleges. Also, plenty of Off-campus placement drives will be happening all around.
Preparing for the placements is the first step to starting one’s professional career. It also paves a path for a Professional Career, hence ensuring a bright future. Placements are very significant in one’s life to kickstart one’s career.
Great Learning offers several online courses in the technical and business domain that can help you achieve your career goals. Upskill today and power ahead your career.
What is Campus Placement?
Few companies come to the colleges and hire skilled students. On-campus placements require a little less effort compared to off-campus placements because, in on-campus placements, the students will be competing only among the students in their college, but during off-campus, one has to compete with the whole of India. Let us now discuss how to prepare for placements.
Placements Preparation steps
The most common mistake most of the students make is neglecting the placements and not taking them seriously. One might be thinking they can get a job once they graduate, but this requires a lot of hard work. So, the students should start to prepare for placements right from college and get placed in the respective companies. Let us see what rounds do placements consist of and how one should prepare for the interviews to grab the job.
The following are the various levels conducted by most of the companies:
Let us see what each round is comprised of and how to crack all the rounds mentioned above:
1. Skill Assessment:
This is the very first round conducted by almost all the companies.
In this round, the Assessments contain multiple-choice questions (MCQs).
a) Aptitude:
Now that we know that most of the companies will have the very first round as the Aptitude, one has to concentrate on the Aptitude preparation to attend the further rounds. Only the students who clear the cutoff in the Aptitude round will be considered for the further rounds.
- The Aptitude round usually consists of sections such as logical reasoning, quantitative ability, and a few English(To test communication skills) MCQs.
- The Aptitude test is conducted to assess the individual’s problem-solving skills and logical thinking.
- It is advised to take up some puzzles and solve them regularly and try different models now and then to surpass the logical reasoning section of the Aptitude.
- One can easily find the previous questions of the respective company online to get an idea of the assessment pattern and prepare accordingly.
- Taking inputs from seniors who attend the placement drive of the specific company also helps a lot.
b) Technical Test:
In the skill test, alongside Aptitude, the technical knowledge of an individual is also assessed. One can expect the technical MCQs from their domains(core ). They will be mostly basics and have to be strong in the basics.
c) Coding Test:
There will also be a coding test conducted as a part of the skill test. Students can choose a language of their choice to solve the problem.
A problem statement will be given, and the candidate has to code the solution for the question, and the solution will run across the multiple test cases set. The solution has to pass the test cases, which tells how accurate the solution is.
2. Group Discussion:
The Group Discussion is conducted by a few companies while a few don’t.
The primary goal of having a group discussion is to assess the communication skills of the students. Spontaneity, healthy discussion, and good communication skills play a major role. To clear this round, it is best to attend as many discussions as possible. Attend the practice sessions held in college, else a group of friends can arrange a GD and practice.
The important points to clear GD are:
- Try to be the first person to start the discussion, this creates attention to the recruiter. Don’t be afraid and start the conversation gently by introducing yourself.
- Be clear in what you speak and it should be understandable in the group
- Never try to be aggressive, this creates a bad impression to the recruiter and there are high chances of not being selected if one gets aggressive and argues in the group discussion.
- Always try to put on valid points in the discussion
- Also give chances for others to speak
These are a few tips to clear a Group Discussion. Nothing helps out than practicing, have a good practice before taking the actual GD.
Also Read: Interview Techniques And Tips
3. Versant Test:
The versant test is conducted by a few companies to assess the speaking and listening skills of the candidate. It consists of various levels, which might ask you to read out sentences displayed on the screen. The system captures what you have read and grades the student accordingly.
The computer also spells out some sentences, and one has to hear them carefully and type them out or read them out loud for the system to capture your responses. There might also be a timed typing test, in which one has to type what is being shown on the screen within a specified time. One has to learn the pronunciation of words.
4. Panel Interviews:
Once the candidates meet the cutoff of all the initial screenings, they will further be shortlisted for the face-to-face interview. In the Panel Interview, the company will be assessing the technical skills of the candidate. Based on the branch of Engineering, or the job profile the candidate has applied for, one can expect technical questions.
The most common topics asked for Computer Science students are:
OOPS, Databases – Database Management System, Basics of Operating Systems, programming languages like Java, Python, C, C++. One has to be strong in basics and can easily find the frequently asked interview questions in these languages online, so can prepare all those questions and be ready for the interview. In the interview, the panel members might also ask to solve a few problems, like puzzles, or can also be asked to code. To code, the candidate can choose any language of their choice, but the approach of solving the problem will be seen.
Data Structures and Algorithms also play a major role in the interviews. The level of difficulty of the technical interview depends on the role applied for, and the package offered for the job role. The duration of the technical interview varies from company to company lasting from 30 min to 1 hour. The questions will mostly be asked about the internships done, certifications, skills mentioned in the resume. The resume is very crucial in that it can get an individual a job or can ruin the chance of getting the job right away. Make sure everything mentioned in the resume is genuine. Faking anything in a resume will reduce the chances of getting hired by 99%. Be thorough with the projects mentioned in the resume and the skills mentioned.
Tips
Behavioral/HR Interview:
Self-introduction is very important. Before starting the interview, the interviewer asks the candidate for self-introduction. This is the best opportunity for a candidate to tell why the interviewer should hire you rather than the rest of the candidates appearing for the interview. The self-introduction should be short and crisp. The candidate can talk about the skill set he/she possesses, explaining about the internships, certifications done, and can also give a brief about the projects done. One can mention the achievements and active participation and organizing events held in college, which shows the quality of leadership and team management.
Before appearing for the HR Interview, it is advised to know about the company, research about the technologies the company uses and some projects it has worked on, few of their clients, so that when the interviewer asks the questions such as what do you know about the company, answering this question mentioning all the above-mentioned details will impress the interviewer how much you are interested in the company. Also, the communication skills of the candidate will be assessed in this round. Some behavioral questions might also be asked to know an individual’s attitude and to check if he/she fits the company’s culture or not. So one should think and answer all these questions with the utmost attention.
So, to finalize initially, there will be a skill-based test comprising of MCQs from technical subjects, aptitude, coding. The next levels of screening include group discussions, versant, technical and HR interviews. Also, the number of technical interviews and their duration varies according to the company.
Off-campus Placements:
Also, plenty of companies hire candidates no matter which college they are from when they meet the minimum Eligibility Criteria set by them, and the skill set required the company is expecting. The process of the placement drive will remain the same. It is advised to learn more than one programming language to stand out from the crowd during off-campus placements.
