Engineering colleges in the State are now embracing start-up firms when it comes to hiring. It’s not just colleges; even students are open to experimenting newer avenues.
“There was concern about start-ups as they represent a certain amount of risk. Students were allowed to decide whether and who they wanted to invite for placement. This set of students decided to call more firms,” says Babu Viswanathan, adviser, training and placement, IIT- Madras.
Last year, less than five start-ups came to the campus. But this year, at least 25 firms are registered for the ongoing placement season at the IIT-M.
Students are also passionately queuing up to grab offers from these start-ups. They also feel that many of these start-ups are offering salaries on a par with other MNCs. On an average, the package is around Rs 9 lakh to Rs.16 lakh.
Suthirth Vaidya, a dual degree student of B. Tech engineering design, has an offer from a start-up in the housing space. “It is an opportunity to directly contribute to a company’s growth,” says Mr. Vaidya, who has opted for the profile of business engagement and strategy.
His colleague Reshmi S, an aerospace engineer also has an offer from the same firm as assistant manager operations. “Since these firms are funded by venture capitalists there is job security and good packages,” she says.
Universities in the State such as Anna University, VIT University and Sastra University have seen many students opt for start-ups in the last three years. Some of the start-ups are even getting day one slots in campus recruitments. In some cases, alumnae who have start-ups also come forward to hire their juniors.
Says Samuel Rajkumar V., director (Placement and Training), VIT University: “We do have alumni with start-ups coming to recruit from our campus.”
Since most of the start-ups are run by young people, they are confident while hiring freshers. Most of the start-ups today are technology based and freshers add value is the logic.
“Students are keen. The fear of working in a start-up is diminishing and there is a desire to be on their own,” says Lakshmi Narayanan , president, TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs). “Joining a specific start-up company is based on referrals, comments and peer group submissions,” he says.
With colleges having their own incubation centres and students wanting to test newer ventures, more than 50 per cent of campus recruitments would be by start-ups. “The bigger IT firms are not scared of this trend. They say that many of these start-ups are up for acquisitions after few years and they indirectly benefit us,” Mr. Narayanan says.
