In a twist, IIT-Madras beats IIT-B in placements this year

Placements 2017 at the Indian Institute of Technology saw a dramatic change in an established trend. It was IIT-Kanpur which had the most successful Day 1 with the largest number of offers made on its campus. A good five days into the placements, IIT-Bombay had not caught up and the largest number of students placed was from IITMadras. The data disrupted the myth that IIT-Bombay registers the best placement season every year.

“In general, companies have spread across the country, so there is no major preference for Bombay any more. Also, this year, many companies are picking talent for their R&D profiles. So they have moved across campuses to get a lot of people,” said Manu Santhanam, advisor, training and placement, IIT-Madras.

Opening day offers this year were up by 20%-50 % as compared to 2016.

IIT-Kanpur sees best placements on Day 1 as Intel picks up 59 in first slot
IIT-Kanpur saw the best Day 1 among the older IITs. Its numbers were propped up by Intel—the largest recruiter-—which picked 59 candidates in the first slot. “Many other recruiters picked up larger numbers compared to the previous years, which mirrors the fact that the market is also good,” said Syam Nair, placement head at IIT-Kanpur.

Day 1 offers at IIT-Kharagpur went up to 192 compared to 127 offers last year. “I have been in this office for the last four years and this has undoubtedly been the best,” said Debasis Deb, placement head at IIT-Kharagpur. A total of 1,185 of the 1,900 have already been placed.

Similarly, the first day at IIT-Madras saw 35 more offers than last year, totalling 195; even international offers went up from 10 to 22 this year. By the close of phase 1, a total of 763 offers were made. Add the preplacement offers, which stood at 114 this year, and a total of 877 students have been placed compared to 745 students last year.

Again, compared to 2016, when IIT-Bombay saw the worst Day 1 figures in 5 years, this year looked more promising; its 55 international offers in the first five days was the icing on the cake. IIT-Roorkee, meanwhile, reportedly crossed the landmark figure of 400 offers within just two days and by the close of Day 5 it had placed 540 candidates.

Describing their placements as “one of the best” a total of 843 offers were handed out to students in first phase of recruitment. “There was a larger participation of companies this time,” said a placement committee member. “And interestingly, the IITs have not had too many start-ups this year. The numbers are larger than last year, yet smaller as compared to 2015,” he added.