Another placement season has ended and all B-schools are making rambunctious claims for 100% placements. They have to, attract the good students. But is that the real story? Or are there skeletons in the cupboard ???

CoolAvenues decided to speak to some of the past students from IIMs who were unfortunate to get placed at the fag end of the placement process. The story tries to explore the trials and tribulations of the last few days at Campus, which might be most painful and overshadow the happy memories.

It can be a very unnerving experience, almost a psychedelic experience. And it can leave a permanent scar on one's psyche. After making through to IIMs through a grueling CAT exam, students get to rub shoulders with best colleagues, are tutored by best faculty and pampered by corporate especially during the PPTs (Pre Placement Talks, for the uninitiated). And these "chosen few" at the IIMs dream of grand well-paying jobs with perks et al with some big MNC firm.

And suddenly the placement week starts. And if you are not in top half of the class and from a countryside town from a what's your school or Univ. name???, you can safely assume that you are not gonna be among the shortlisted ones on Day 0. And the situation gets slightly better with the later Day 1 and Day 2. And better still on Day 3 and Day 4. And suddenly you realise there are less than 20 candidates in fray. And on Day 5, you might be a member of the special tribe of last 10 people who are "yet to be placed", whereas the leading dailies' front page on the same day carry stories of yet another "unparalleled 100% placement" at your Institute.

Suddenly your fellow students, whom you thought were there for you, are nowhere in sight. All peers who made a beeline to handle Day 1 and Day 0 companies begin churning all sorts of excuses of being busy. And the Placecom? You wonder whether it really existed? Or was that a dream? You regret why you voted for that placecom. Only a few students from placecom are there to coordinate the companies and do hardselling. And the companies also start to act haughty! Companies that are not reputed or are favoured among campus students get a lower day ranking (day-rankings are decided by students on various parameters). Suddenly all the issues about lower-day-ranking for company and too-few-students-left-to-be-looked come out of the closet from nowhere. And wait, the worst is yet to come and it is too scary to believe when one of the faculty will come and advice you to opt out (sign off in respectable tone) of the placement process for the good of college and to maintain its 100% placement record. You will be told that the college will take care of you, if you just do this favor... (Unlike US B-Schools, majority of the B-Schools in India, irrespective of their ranking in the chart, misrepresent the data related to salaries and number of offers.)

And the fact that these students are the best ones, chosen through CAT with admission percentage of 0.5%, as compared to Harvard and Wharton's 13% admission rates, fade in background. No one wants to recruit these "unfortunate ones"!

And says one unfortunate student, "I never thought going to mess or library or Faculty area, could be so depressing..so humiliating. It felt awful as all eyes turned towards me. Most looked with sympathy, some thought we had spoiled a 'bumper placement'. I have never felt so low". Says another, "I stopped going to mess or out of my room in dorm. My fellow dormmates would stop laughing whenever I walked in, and start talking serious as if in some sort of funeral and it made me miserable". Still others reminded, "Get placed soon... so that we have a placement party soon for juniors and go home". "It becomes a drudgery to get dressed up again and walk across the campus to interview room in Blazers'n'tie, alone, praying to God that you meet no fellow students on the way. And the walk back - with drooping shoulders and low head - was one of the most traumatic experience of my life", says another.

And if you think that this is horrible, think about your neighbours and your parents who have read those bumper salaries and 100% placement stories.

Contd...

Placements 2001

Read complete story of Placement 2001 as it happened along with analysis and comparison across the B-Schools and segment-wise analysis.

Placements 2002

Read complete story of Placement 2002 as it happened along with analysis and comparison across the B-Schools and segment-wise analysis.

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