The ongoing financial turmoil has hit all the sectors rather badly and this spells chaos for the fresh graduates, especially the engineers. And no one is safe, not even the so called elite institutions. From what I hear around only 50% of IITD and IITB was placed in their first phase of placements. Similar figures were associated with IITM also. As this article points out, there have also been cases where some companies have backed out at the last moment, that is, right after giving their pre placement talk. BITS Pilani also is fearing a rough patch in placements this season with a big drop in the number of recruiters.

So what does this mean for the colleges?

Back to the basics

A lot of students are now shifting to the core engineering jobs since the finance/consultancy biggies have frozen their recruitments (even the ones placed last semester are awaiting their job letters).

Good news for startups

Earlier this year, IIT B was urging startups to recruit at their campus. Startups such as IBIBO are also recruiting from top institutions and are paying as much as internet giants Google/IBM. This might be the best time to join a startup and spend some time there and try to be part of an emerging ecosystem. I would suggest each campus come up with their version of a startup lunch to tackle recession.

Public Sector

Students are considerig PSUs such as BHEL, SAIL etc since there is job security and a hefty pay. And with the 6th pay commision in sight, the news gets ony better. This is awesome for them because now they have a great chance at tapping into the potential of the top candidates who would have otherwise been engulfed by a private enterprise. A lot of students have also started hitting the books and are preparing for the civil services.

The situation which will probably last all through 2009 is forcing the students to look at some really creative alternatives which acording to me is quite fascinating. I would also suggest taking a year off,travelling, volunteering or even freelancing.