How to Prepare for Campus Placement?

That campus placement is an entry point to a successful and satisfying career is no secret. After all, it is the time when knowledge and skills gained over years of toil, in addition to your professional and personal calibre get acknowledged and rewarded. You are on a threshold of a professional life, which you would like to initiate with a business establishment with some credence and recognition. When stakes are this high, a proactive approach becomes an essentiality.

No matter how well versed you are in your discipline, outperforming the fellow placement seekers and impressing discerning recruiters without ample preparation will always be a distant dream. Here are few tips to help you make the most of the once in a lifetime opportunity that we all call campus placements.

Create a Resume:

The resume is a reflection of your academic credentials, skills, personal traits, and extracurricular achievements. Hence, your campus placement goals are unattainable without a well-structured resume. That said, just putting up your profile in black and white may not suffice. Few tips that you need to factor in while creating a winning resume finds mention below. 

• Ensure that the resume is properly formatted, uncluttered, and updated.
• The information it carries should be true to your knowledge.
• Quantify your achievements, contributions, and other relevant facts to amplify your chances.
• The fonts you use need not be too fancy. Avoid using multiple colours.
• Creating a job specific resume always pays, as recruiters find it convenient to match your appropriateness for a particular job profile.
• You need to have a thorough knowledge of things finding mention in the resume. Being caught unaware is not just embarrassing but can deter your chances severely as well.

The bottom line here is to keep things simple yet professional. However, if preparing a resume is not your cup of tea, consider getting professional help and guidance from credible online or offline resources.        

Do Your Homework:

As numerous successful candidates will testify, doing your homework helps to fructify placement dreams. You can reach out to the college’s placement cell to get the list of companies about to visit the campus for placements. As well, ascertaining their domains, nature of jobs on offer, eligibility criteria, and intake procedure is equally significant. The idea thus gained will help you prepare accordingly and keep your chances lively. For a better understanding, you can access online reviews on interview processes specific to each company. Being in touch with the placement cell is always handy, as campus placements are prone to change in schedule. In addition, the expected recruiters can always cancel their visit even post confirmation and you will have to face a new interview board. So, prior knowledge of these developments can prove to be the difference eventually.  
Brush up ‘other’ skills:

Placement procedure is subject to a company’s discretion. However, there are certain elements central to all placement procedures, including aptitude, reasoning and analytical skills, and communication skills, along with group discussion. Ignoring or neglecting any of them will demolish your placement aspirations, big time.  

• Aptitude Test: One mutual element across all placement procedures is an aptitude test. The rationale behind the test is narrowing down the candidate list right at the onset. In fact, the test is not that hard a nut to crack. The only requisites are focus and practice. So, start working on your aptitude skills to remain in the race.
• Reasoning and Analytical Skills: The very aim of engineering education is to instil reasoning and analytical skills. Needless to say, the global recruiter community also values these skills. Therefore, ignoring them at one’s own peril will be the word to the wise. Consider solving puzzles to sharpen your reasoning abilities. Employing efficient tools and web applications abundantly available can be a smart ploy as well.    
• Communication Skills: After all, campus placements are all about getting your knowledge and ideas across to recruiters and establishing a mutually enriching conversation. You can consider taking help from peers when it comes to honing your communication skills. Contrary to general perception, you need not be impeccable with your English. Conveying your idea in a comprehensible manner is more than sufficient.
• Group Discussion Skills: Group discussion is yet another standard element across placement procedures. A good knowledge of the GD ground rules and current topics is always desirable for anyone serious about coming out with flying colours. To this end, you can reach out to the virtual world. More importantly, keep yourself updated with current affairs and key developments in your area of specialisation. Remember, group discussion is a test of your patience, skills, knowledge, and leadership abilities. Therefore, striking a balance between aggression and meekness is vital. You can achieve this by forming a peer group where you can rehearse in the real life scenario. In absence of any such group, you can opt for professional group discussion sessions conducted by reliable coaching centres.   

Revisit Your Basics:

No denying the fact that recruiters look for varied aspects in a candidate but their prime focus will be on judging your academic knowledge and skills. Ironically, many students fail to realise it well in time. Obviously, such candidates find themselves in a tight spot when discerning recruiters grill them during the placement session. Therefore, revisiting the basics of your discipline makes perfect sense. Avoid mugging up, as any seasoned recruiter can easily trick you into yielding. Instead, focus on grasping the concept. This is an ideal way to remain confident throughout the placement procedure.  

Other Essential Tips:

• Show up at the placement venue half an hour before the interview. 
• Be formally dressed.
• Remain confident during the entire process, even if you fail to answer a question.
• Be truthful, as you cannot take seasoned recruiters for a ride.