What happens when an IITian can’t land a job at campus?

79.8% received a job offer. This means 105 IITians who signed up for placements to get a job couldn’t land one.
While this number is significantly better than other engineering colleges, the burden of graduating jobless from IITs is similar to, if not substantially higher than, any other college.

But why can’t these brilliant folks land a job at the campus?

Traditionally, campus placements are a tried and tested route for an IITian to bag jobs safely. When students enter IITs, putting shiny new achievements in their resumes becomes their chief goal—in other words, landing a campus job results from their hard work.
But even after that, there are countless reasons why some IITians fail to land a campus job. Maybe they can’t make it past the CGPA cutoff, they faced a pissed-off interviewer, maybe the TnP office messed up slot positions, and maybe IITians also go blank during interviews like everyone else. Or perhaps companies can’t match the number of offers with the total number of students sitting for placements.
And recently, the number of campus jobs dipped even more for IITians. Google, a fixture at IITs, alone brought down IIT Roorkee’s total offer figures to 700 from 740 in 2015, when it decided to hire off-campus this year. Similarly, Flipkart and Snapdeal, other regulars at IIT placements, stayed away too. At IIT Delhi, the average number of offers from each recruiter this year went down by about 15% compared to last year. Plus, other biggies like BCG, Goldman Sachs, and Microsoft, which hired in huge numbers last year, also cherry-picked students this year.
While that sums up almost every reason why some IITians graduate without a job, we’re still missing the biggest one. And that is – Campus placements, by design, limit the number and variety of profiles offered to students.
For instance, there can only be as many consulting profiles up for grabs as the visiting companies decide to offer. And once these select companies scoop up a bunch of students (let’s say on Day 1), the remaining students have no other option but to compromise. So, even if a six-pointer wanted a consulting job, he had no choice but to interview for other profiles to secure a job before graduation!
What’s more, that reason has another offshoot – What if someone is genuinely passionate about a job profile and is not even offered at the campus?
So, this crazy blend of circumstances sets the path for students by default. Strangely, when these brilliant folks should be asking themselves, “What career path should I pursue after graduation?” the question turns into – “Which of these companies should I work for?”
And ultimately, the lack of options forces students to take any job, hoping they’ll ‘switch’ to their favorite profile after a year or two. Or they wait and struggle off-campus to find the job profile of their choice.

And this is where things take a “sour” turn.

The IITian tag often sets unreasonably high student expectations, which are sometimes misplaced. As a result, towards the end of college, many jobless students start suffering from shame and depression because, for them, getting a campus offer is the end goal.
People judge and question IITians who fail to get a campus job. People question their credibility simply because they were supposed to be the “brightest of the bunch” studying at the best college in the country. And if that’s not enough, these students face self-doubt when the whole campus celebrates graduation and placements, some of whom are hyped ‘crore plus packages.’
So what can an unplaced IITian do?
First off, this scenario applies to graduates from any college. I talk about IITs because failing to grab a campus job becomes larger than life for them. People habitually put IITians under the lens – their every achievement is a grand celebration, and every defeat is a monumental disappointment. You get the picture.
Ok, let’s begin.
Placements are a pretty lucrative deal. They also make a nice cushion if you want to pursue something else. But thinking of campus placements as the only option is a huge mistake. There’s a whole universe outside campus filled with notable companies offering numerous profiles (which you won’t find in campus placements).
And that brings us to the second step, which is a blessing in disguise for an IITian without a job offer. Really! Get this – A survey at IIT Bombay revealed that almost 26% of first-year students are clueless about their future options. So, even if some figure out their career paths, most still doubt their prospects until the final year.
In a way, having no job offer helps by forcing students to think about priorities, the kind of work they love, whether they’ll be satisfied by working at a particular workplace, etc. Once they figure it out, they can research companies and select the ones that engage in their work. These are the kind of activities most students never do, even after landing a job.
Yes, it looks like a painful process, but this process of self-discovery gives clarity, satisfaction, and confidence like no other activity. It’ll be a tool you can use your whole life. Speaking of tools, if you find this process bizarre or difficult, try writing a “statement of purpose.” Yes, just like the one you mail with your MS or MBA application.
Finally, remember that your intelligence wasn’t the only thing that got you into IITs – it was the tenacity, the hustle, and the will to fight until the last moment. So take a breath, chart out a plan, apply to your preferred companies non-stop, and don’t hesitate to ask your seniors/batchmates for links or referrals.

Alternatively

If you’re an IIT graduate without a job offer, check out our initiative to solve these issues. The online hiring event, Un-Campus Placements, directly connects students from IITs/NITs/BITS colleges to 400+ top companies looking for talented people. The best part – you can explore as many job profiles or companies as you like before settling on your favorite one.
The issue of elite talent graduating without a job offer is close to us, and we understand it well, as many members of our team have faced similar problems despite being from a Tier-1 college.
And even if you have an offer from campus but got the wrong profile or an unsatisfactory package, we got your back. We want you to explore better opportunities and not settle until you find the work/company you love. If you’re curious, here’s why we’re doing it, and here are the FAQs.