Beyond the Big 5: What is the future of campus placements?

Remember watching this funny satirical video a few years back about the reality of campus placement in colleges across India? It was a funny take on the dynamics of how the Big 5 of the Indian IT sector hired the majority of students in technical colleges and universities. 

This particular scene, where students are loaded on trucks like commodities, and the placement officer and HR are negotiating and bargaining for a bigger number for their company.

It showed the poor situation of campus placements, where college pass-outs were not getting meaningful roles and were stuck with body shop roles in big IT services companies. Low salaries, all engineering branches getting only IT jobs. Sad isn’t it? 

Like all nightmares, this too came to an end, and today, we are in a new reality. But this new reality is even more hellish. Come 2025, things have changed. Those days are now seen as golden days for campus placements.

We have all been reading about the impact of AI on job roles, industry, and the economy in the future. When it comes to campus placements, stakeholders have opinions across the spectrum—some are very optimistic, while others are giving up.

Reality is always somewhere in between. The sad part is that it is closer to negative sentiments around the future of jobs in general, and especially, for campus placements.

So, do we give up on that great Indian middle-class dream—where you build a life through good education, employment in an established company, pay your dues, and finally, reach a level where you can send your next generation in the same cycle but at a slightly higher orbit? 

Anyway, the idea of writing about the future of jobs, especially fresher jobs, is critical since students passing out of these campuses with a good education form the foundation of a great Indian middle class and its future.

So, understanding the importance of this situation, I won’t make the capital mistake of theorising without data. Without the light of data, your own biases might overpower your objectivity, and we could end up twisting facts for our own theories. To be more objective, we have to rely on data, examine evidence and try to suggest a path forward and predict what campus placements will look like in future. 

A cursory glance at the headcount for fresher placements will suggest that these IT companies will no longer hire in numbers that several universities and colleges had become used to in the past. Last year, campus placements in big IT companies saw about a 50% drop.

My analysis is that headcount has not fallen at the pace of fresher hiring, owing to contractual obligations and the long-term nature of IT contracts. The next round of contracts is more AI-focused and less driven by the salary arbitrage or cost advantage we had in India. As has been observed with fresher hiring, the total head count will either stagnate or most likely come down. 

What is the future of campus placement? What can stakeholders in campus placement do to avoid a grim situation, where students prepare for certain roles for 3-5 years—with hopes of a great future—but they discover these roles do not exist. 

The future of campus placements is heavily leaning towards more diversified hiring in terms of roles and the type of companies. Fortunately, when one door closes, another one opens, as big companies are putting the brakes hard on hiring, several new startups are providing meaningful and high-impact roles. Career development cells must increase their reach to engage a large number of companies.

Today, chancellors and vice chancellors of top universities and colleges are struggling with the same dilemma. Placement is the most important indicator on which parents, future students, and even regulatory bodies like NAAC and NIRF will evaluate based on the percentage of students placed. Mean and median salaries are now important to maintain and improve rankings, as well as perception.

It won’t be an overstatement that the quality and quantity of admissions are a derivative of the quality and quantity of placements. Today, more so than ever, universities must prepare students for a future that is unpredictable and hard to visualise.

In an environment where it is hard to survive, how do you thrive? How do you keep yourself ahead of the curve so that you are the most preferred destination for the best students? Some of the key trends that successful universities will follow are:

Digitised and AI-driven experience

Campuses, especially their placement cells, have been laggards at using advanced analytical and automation tools to improve efficiency, make insightful decisions, and predict trends in skills and sectors that will open more opportunities for their students.

Today, smart placement management systems can give real-time analysis and use AI to identify gaps in the readiness of students appearing in different interviews. They can easily identify skills most commonly sought in most job roles, shared not just on campus but across the board. This will allow training and placement teams to anticipate trends and students to prepare for those roles. 

Automation for scale

Automation and CRM custom-built for the placement process must be used for sharper and effective communication with HR departments of hundreds of companies. Shorter turnaround times for sharing communication and relevant data with all stakeholders, especially recruiters, will be critical. 

Virtualisation of placement drives

Several smaller companies from across geographies will have to be engaged, who would prefer campuses that have infrastructure to have virtualisation of drives and pre-placement engagement in a structured manner. Advanced tools to create virtual placement brochures with potential recruiters, along with guest logins for recruiters to manage campus hiring more effectively, will be a critical differentiator. 

Stronger industry–university tie-ups

Placement offices should be able to engage corporates at a deeper and continuous level for better opportunities. Roundtables and virtual engagements with industry leaders should be part of the process.

AI for job readiness

Using AI to analyse candidate profiles and leveraging AI-powered training to improve chances of success for your students will be a critical part of an effective and successful training and placement cell at any campus. 

Course relevance

The importance of this point can’t be overstated, as one of the biggest challenges faced by placement officers and industry is that courses being offered in universities are not in sync with industry needs. Creating programmes in association with industry experts will form the basis of creating that pool of graduates that is acceptable in the industry. 

Conclusion

When the times get tough, the tough get going. Survival of the fittest and adaptability will be key. Successful universities will create strategic partnerships with thought leaders, industry-focused skill centres, and use automation and AI to achieve scale and precision in generating employment and employability.

Placement departments have been equipped with state-of-the-art placement management systems and AI to face the challenges of the future.

(Vishal Sood is an entrepreneur, author, mentor, and TEDx speaker.)