Off- Campus Placements

Hey Everyone!!! I’ve been receiving a lot of messages and requests to post about off-campus placements.

After, gathering my resources from different places and talking to few people who participated in off-campus placements, I have finally completed this post.

Off-campus placements are very different from On-campus placements. The preparation, application procedure, interviews are also very different. The results of your application depends on a lot of factors. So, we’ll go from step to step to learn more about it for better preparation.

STEP 1: PREPARATION

While preparing for off-campus placements, keep the following points in mind:

• You will have to prepare for different topics along with DSA, DBMS, OS and other core subjects. While practicing for coding, be well-versed with the concepts of system design, architecture, ML, AI, Blockchain(as per your resume & skill set)
• Prepare for behavioural questions for HR round because companies take it very seriously, especially, for off-campus placements.
• While preparing for a specific company, make sure you go through the job description & skills required and prepare accordingly because many companies search for particular skills in the candidate.

STEP 2: APPLICATION

• Major application platform is LinkedIn. So, filter the kind of job you’re looking for and LinkedIn will notify you as soon as there is a new job opening.
• Make a document with link of application links of your target companies. Register yourself under the career section of their website. Many companies like Microsoft, Cisco etc… send a notification mail as soon as there is a job matching your skill set.
• Now, the initial step of application includes uploading resume. A senior told me that many companies have automated system of filtering resumes. These systems look for certain keywords in your resume and that’s how they filter them. So, before uploading resume, update it according to the skills required and job description mentioned by the company.
• After initial filtering of resume, HR will take a look at your resume for only 1–2 minutes. So, make sure your resume is extremely professional and presentable.

Rest of the procedure may differ from company to company and you’ll have to do company specific preparation. So, go through geeksforgeeks for understanding the selection procedure of each company you’re applying in.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Applying for off-campus placement in traditional way(i.e. applying online through career page) takes a lot of time and has a lot of chances that you might get rejected. So, the question is how can you stand out?

• Reach out to people working in your target companies on linkedin.
• Ask them for referral. This will build a strong connection for you and many employees are looking for strong candidates for referring to the company. Reference from someone working in the company will give you an edge over people who are applying traditionally.
• Whenever you send a mail with your resume, attach cover letter as well. Many times, it is not required but it helps your application.
• What to mention in cover letter? Why you will be an asset to the company, your interest towards the company etc…
• Attending conferences and hackathons will also build you a strong network of connections.
• Send a thank you mail to HR/ Interviewer after the interview as it keeps you on their positive side.

I hope this article could help you and you get placed in your dream company.

All the best!!!!