Indian Institute of Technology Madras students have registered a strong show in Pre-Placement this year as well with the offers increasing yet again during 2020-21 compared with the preceding Academic Year, despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

As many as 182 offers were made to IIT Madras students this academic year (as on November 28, 2020) as against 170 offers during the entire 2019-20 Academic year. The Phase I of Campus Placements is scheduled to commence on December 1, 2020.

A major factor behind this performance in PPOs is the strong internship programme of the institute. The Internship Drive was conducted completely online this year, for the first time in the history of the Institute, to overcome the logistical restrictions due to the pandemic, IIT Madras said.

The internships result in students getting to intern in companies that are large recruiters. The internships are facilitated through an Institute-coordinated process. The constant increase in PPOs is the result of excellent performance of students during the internships.

IT MADRAS ADVISOR (TRAINING AND PLACEMENT) PROF. C S SHANKAR RAM SAID, “THE SUSTAINED INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PRE-PLACEMENT OFFERS THIS YEAR IS A CLEAR REFLECTION OF THE ACADEMIC QUALITY OF IIT MADRAS AND ITS STUDENTS. I AM OPTIMISTIC THAT WE WOULD BE ABLE TO CARRY FORWARD THIS MOMENTUM AND OUR STUDENTS WOULD OBTAIN THE BEST POSSIBLE JOB OFFERS IN PHASE-1 PLACEMENTS.”

The Day One (August 30, 2020) of Internship Drive was a great success. As many as 17 companies participated virtually and made 140 Internship offers. In the preceding year of 2019, 147 internship offers were made on Day One.

Highlighting the importance of Internships to Campus Placements in IIT Madras, IIT Madras Advisor (Internships) Prof. N V Ravi Kumar said, “We have been observing a direct correlation between internships and Pre-Placement Offers ever since the internship office was created. Internships provide an excellent opportunity for students to understand the working culture and expectations of the companies that they work for and for the companies to realize the potential of our students during that short period. When interests and expectations of interns and companies match, it culminates in Pre-Placements offers.”

The Companies that offered the highest number of PPOs are as follows:

Texas Instruments – 12 Offers
Microsoft – 12 Offers
Qualcomm – 10 Offers
Goldman Sachs – 9 Offers
American Express – 9 Offers