Friday was another proof that industry was keen on recruiting only the crème-de-la-crème even at the entry level. The 6,146 students from 46 affiliated colleges of Bharathiar University, who attended the mass recruitment drive conducted by the Banking and Accounting Back-end Operations’ Division of Tata Consultancy Services, were witness to the stringent selection process of the company.
The drive that was held in five venues across the city - PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, SNR Sons College, Kovai Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science, Sri Krishna Arts and Science College, and Hindusthan College of Arts and Science - saw over 50 representatives from TCS choose the best.
The selection process began with the aptitude written test. From among 6,146 students, only 2,172 (35 per cent) cleared the test. These students went on to attend the group discussion. Nearly 50 per cent from among them went on to attend the third and last round – the technical / personal interview. The final number of students who will get offer letters will be known on Saturday. They will join the company in June 2013 after a month-long Initial Learning Programme in Coimbatore.
Final year undergraduate students from the commerce, business management, computer science, languages, and arts and humanities domains, attended the drive. TCS recruited entry level employees for its back-end services in banking, accounting, supply chain management, travel and tourism support services, and financial services.
TCS representatives said that Coimbatore was one of the tier-2 cities besides Salem, Tiruchi, Nagercoil, and Tirunelveli, from which the company recruited. Though the conversion rate was poor in terms of quantity, the quality of the selected students was good, they added. Next to Chennai, Coimbatore was viewed with much expectation in Tamil Nadu.
The poor turnout in quantity is being attributed to the lack of awareness about the BPO services. Since parents and students believed that BPO meant only call centres, many students were not willing to take part in the selection. The company was planning on conducting ‘engagement programmes’ in the university to create awareness about the job profiles in the BPO sector.
M. Jayakumar, Head, Department of Extension and Career Guidance, Bharathiar University, who co-ordinated the drive, said the poor response was an indication that city colleges were not taking systematic efforts from the beginning to prepare students for placements.
“The ones who do not take part in the drive do so because they do not have enough awareness. The ones who attend the drive are not well equipped with the required skills and aptitude to meet the expectations of the recruiter. We expect some 600 students to be given offer letters and this will account for approximately 10 per cent conversion rate,” he said.
There were mixed reactions from the students. While some believed that they had lost out because they lacked in some skill, there were some others who felt that they had done well but had been eliminated in one of the rounds.
Some lost out because of their hesitation to work outside of Coimbatore, work night shifts, or mere lack of confidence.
