You’re about to graduate and get your first degree – the joyous (and studious!) days of college are etched in your memory. But the D-Day is still looming, with hopes of getting successful placements and starting off your careers.
The pressure is on and higher than ever. With loads of colleges being established and the existing colleges increasing the batch sizes – the competition among students is on the rise. For some of these lads, the dilemma arises – “Will I land my dream job?”. The doubtful success makes us explore possibilities to reduce risks. There might have been a time when the topic of discussion with your friends was – On-Campus or Off-Campus Placement?
We have broken down the debate below to help you understand your choice better.
On-Campus Placement
Placements have slowly become an integral part of an institute’s offerings. Nowadays, students pay special attention to placement records while selecting a college for admission. It’s a matter of RoI (return on investment)!
Scoring a decent job through on-campus placement makes every college student proud. Placement drives where companies visit campuses and conduct multiple rounds of group discussions, aptitude tests and personal interviews (not easy to crack) are prevailing.
There’s a hype among students for campus placements. Let’s find out why!
- Time and Effort is Saved – The companies knock your campus doors to offer jobs to deserving candidates. Institute authorities take charge in arranging the processes.
- College-Company Bond – High reputation institutes attract the best of the companies and in turn the companies hardly go back empty-handed. Students benefit if a good rapport is shared between these two parties.
- Limited Competition and Higher Success Probability – Your competition is cut short as now you’re competition is only the aspirants within the institute boundaries.
Besides being all goody-goody, campus placements have their disadvantages too.
- Why Not Me? – Instances of luck playing its part when you’ll see partiality in selection and feel someone less competent getting a better package/role.
- Opportunities are plenty not infinite – Some companies do not follow campus recruitment schemes. Students are restricted for choice in the race for getting placed.
- “100%” is a Myth – Not everyone might land an offer, there’s a fear of rejection and frustration for the ones who fail.
Campus placements do have a certain charm, taking you directly from student to working professional. But is it the only way to reach your goal?
Off-Campus Placement
Off-campus placements are a good alternative for the ones failing to find what they were looking for in campus placements. Mostly, the reasons for a different job role or industry, make the students opt for it.
The journey for desired jobs is full of hurdles here. Research on your target companies and reach out to them by establishing presence on job boards at LinkedIn, Indeed.com, Naukri.com. You can also contact people working there on LinkedIn and build your references for help.
Let’s understand how off-campus opportunities can prove to be an advantage for students.
- Range of Options – You are not restricted for company choices and choose where to apply based on aspirations and capability.
- Exposure and Knowledge Expansion – When you know what you want, you will explore different horizons just to land at the right job. In the process, you also gain wide knowledge about industries upon communicating with working professionals.
- Sense of Accomplishment – Securing a job on your own gives one immense self satisfaction in today’s world of intense competition.
Other than just impressing in interviews, off-campus placements come with added obstacles.
- You are your own Master – You have to keep yourself updated about the process and ensure not to miss a step. No external party will guide and keep track for your candidature.
- More and More Challengers – The competition is high in quantity as candidates from different regions/institutes will challenge for the same job position.
- Chances are Limited– It is a tough ask to search for opportunities yourself and shortlist the ones which you want to apply for. Plus here, the companies are not bound to the fact that they have to take a minimum number of candidates.
- Need Experience for Job – In this scenario, candidates having some relevant work experience (either full time or internship) do have higher probability of success. Freshers might face a challenge here in proving their case as to why they are fit for a role.
Both, off-campus placements and on-campus placements have their pros and cons but ultimately lead to the same goal. If you’re determined and capable of achieving the best, you’ll never fall short of job opportunities, no matter how you apply for them.
All the best for future folks!
