Students’ Speak: Experience, location and academic scores are key components of placements eligibility criteria

All the students should carefully examine the eligibility criteria before sitting for the placement process of any company. Abhishek points out that prior work experience, location and academic performance are key eligibility criteria for any suitable job role.

The eligibility criteria of a company sometimes cause anxiety to students since the criteria comprise factors that are not always within their control. These factors include location constraints, past academic scores, prior relevant work experience, etc. For example, there have been instances of a single company offering multiple job profiles with each having its own criteria. There are some companies that hire only freshers while others lookout for seasoned candidates.

There are further bifurcations among the roles requiring work experience as well. For example, some companies state that only those are eligible who have worked for, say, at least 12 months. Other companies whereas prefer candidates with more experience only i.e. at least 24 months or above. These bifurcations are based upon the job profiles offered.

It is also important for students to read a job description properly since one cannot apply for a job role just for the sake of it. For example, recently a reputed company in the financial services sector has clearly mentioned that they would prefer candidates with prior sales experience for their “Sales Trainee” role. Hence, only those who have previously worked in the sales domain have strong chances of getting shortlisted for further interview rounds. 

Location is another constraint for some candidates and companies as well. To illustrate this, say a mid-sized company in the FMCG domain has offered the role of an “Assistant Brand Manager”,  but the job location is stated as “Pan India” (which means that the student will be placed anywhere in India as per the company’s requirements). Hence, only those who are mobile enough to travel anywhere across the country should apply for that role.

Many companies also keep a benchmark in the academic scores to filter out candidates. For example, a leading organization in the Market Research sector had stated explicitly that only those having at least 65 percent marks in their classes 10 &12, graduation, post-graduation (if applicable) and first year of the PGDM course would be eligible to attend the interview process. Some companies do not entertain any live backlog. Attendance doesn’t play any major role (at least in Welingkar) when it comes to being eligible for the placement processes.

To conclude, the eligibility criteria is one thing students should seriously contemplate before applying to a particular company.

About the Author:

Abhishek Desai is currently pursuing Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) in e-Business from Welingkar Institute of Management. He has done his Summer Internship in the field of Market Research with 'TimesofMoney'. He's also served as 'Secretary of the Green Committee' at Welingkar.