Students’ Speak: Know these 10 placement tips to become industry-ready and ace best job offers

By: Satyanarayan Behra

Placements are the most important event for management students at any of the top-ranked B-schools in the country. Satyanarayan Behra shares important placement tips for students to stay industry-ready and leave a good first impression on the recruiters. He also shares the role of Placement Cell in IBS Gurgaon and facilities provided to students.

Placement is the most decisive factor that comes to your mind when you join any B-school among Tier-1, Tier- 2 and Tier-3 colleges. Therefore, preparation for placements is of utmost importance for any aspiring management professionals. Here are some key tips and tricks to help MBA students secure a good placement in their campus drives or out in the job market.

1. Reading Newspapers: Yah! Old school but high in content, reading the newspaper will not only make you aware of the happenings of the world around you but also keep you ready for the GD-PI round
2. Listening Podcasts: A lot of us have android mobile phones, so just download a podcast application such as Google Podcast and try to listen to the new releases, which are trendy nowadays. Most of us have a preference in the podcast that we want to listen
3. Soft-skill: Acquiring soft-skills such as strong communication skills, presentation, professional dressing sense, etc. is very important to succeed in a professional environment. The right mix of soft-skills will make you ready for corporate set-ups and give you an edge during placements
4. Certification: Do some certifications along with your MBA degree. This will not only make your horizon of knowledge broad but also allow you to learn to manage your time to handle multi-tasking
5. Specialization: Choose your MBA specialization wisely. You have to do some prior research about the subjects you want to opt for in your management programme
6. Resume Building: Do cross-check with your Institute, whether there is any particular format or not for creating resume. Make your resume with good content and do not bluff any details.
7. Mock Drive: Take some mock interview sessions and analyse your weakness & strengths. This will give you some important pointers to improve before the placement drive.
8. Group Discussion: Select some current topics for GD based on recent trends that are contextual and highly debatable.

PI:  This round can be the last round of any placement drive you are aiming for. Go through basic questions such as ‘Why MBA’, ‘Tell me about yourself’, ‘What is your expectation from this company’, etc.

9. Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning: Prepare quantitative aptitude thoroughly because many companies assess your quantitative and reasoning ability during the initial rounds
10. Meditate and Relax: It is worth relaxing, meditating and spending some time with your friends. In spite of all the professional goals and challenges ahead, you need to maintain your daily routine and experience college life in all its essence.

An Investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

- Benjamin Franklin.

ICFAI Business School (IBS), Gurgaon is one of the renowned colleges in Delhi NCR. It has its main campus in Hyderabad and its other branch in Mumbai, Gurgaon, Pune, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Jaipur and Dehradun.

IBS Gurgaon serves better placement offers in Delhi NCR region. As an MBA aspirant from IBS Gurgaon, I am very impressed by their process of placing students in top companies.

IBS Placement cell and facilities for students

IBS Gurgaon has a placement cell that manages the entire placement procedure to make students industry ready. The cell is totally student driven and is guided by the senior faculty members. The placement cell assists students with several facilities in the college, such as:

• Placement Advisory, Counselling and Training (PACT)
• Soft-skill training sessions and workshops
• Computer enhancement classes
• Language room

Three major groups look after the placement process in the college, namely faculty, second-year students and first-year students. Each group has its own set of responsibilities to look after.

• Faculty members have their own connection with the alumni that helps to build and maintain a strong corporate and industrial network
• Second-year students are senior members who take care of the timing, venues of the job interviews, etc. The second-year students include head coordinators, vice-head coordinators and IT head who take care of the companies when they visit the campus for placement.
• First-year students are in the learning stage and they learn how to handle the complete placement procedure after the seniors are placed

About the Author:

Satyanarayan Behera is pursuing MBA from IBS Gurgaon with specialisation in Marketing and Business Analytics. He is adaptable in nature, is workaholic and loves it. Leadership is his key strength. He has done internships with Coal India Limited and Shaad Saga for 45 days and 3 months respectively.