FAQs for Campus placed students (freshers)

This post is for those students who’ve secured placements in IT companies during final years of their college life and gearing up to enter the corporate world. College campus to corporate office is a big transition and there’re several apprehensions. This post attempts to answer few of those. Please note that these answers are generic and should be fairly true across all IT Companies. But specifics may change w.r.t company a student is placed in.

1 Where will I get posted? Will my location preference be entertained?

Most of the companies DO NOT promise that you’ll get the location you prefer. Postings are often done based on project requirements. If there’s a clash between one’s location preference and business need, the later would prevail. At this point of one’s career, freshers should treat this as an opportunity to explore a new city, learn a new language, meet new people. No point cribbing about posting so early in one’s career. Couple of years down the line, one should be able to seek transfer (or change company if really required) to settle in a location of preference.

2 Will I have a say in the stream (also called subject/discipline/technology/domain etc) I’ll be allotted to?

Usually NO. When 1000s of students are hired and trained, companies expect them to learn whatever technology/domain/stream assigned to them. With little bit of effort it could have been possible to entertain one’s preference, but that would lead to more complications. There’s a pre-conceived myth and development projects are great while testing/support is useless. Everyone might be inclined on say JAVA and no one prefers others (mainframe, Unix). Managing this conflict of interest and mindset will be a greater challenge. Hence IT companies suggest freshers to excel in whatever stream they are assigned to, prove themselves and then try for a change after couple of years.

3 When will I get to go on foreign trips?

Please note that one is not really sent for a foreign trips. Before being considered for such opportunities (onsite travel), one should be able to prove his capabilities and his supervisors should gain confidence in him that he can handle the job. Being onsite would mean one needs excellent communication skills, leadership skills, technical/business knowledge and so on. Ironically many freshers who’re keen to go abroad won’t have adequate skills for the job and by the time they gain those expertise and management asks them to travel, their priorities in life would have changed (family etc)

At the initial stages of your career, do not worry about onsite- focus on your work, learn and excel in the tasks assigned. More opportunities will come your way.

4 What shift you’ll be put on?

This can vary from company to company, project to project. No one will have right answer till you complete your training and join a project. Those working in shift will usually have cab facility while those working in general timings may have to use company bus.

5 Can I take as much leave as I want?

Again this question can’t be answered during pre-joining period. Leave requirements will have to be discussed with right people for their decision

6 How much hike/promotion will I get?

Again this can’t be answered during pre-joining period. Promotion and hike depends on wide range of factors which you’ll soon understand.

7 I have an offer from company X and company Y. Which one is better?

A 3^rd person can’t decide which one is right for you. It will be wrong to go by the general market perception about a company. Even if company is not popular, you may get to work on something you love, your team might be very nice, while another popular company might treat you like one in a thousand. Take your own decision.

8 “I’ve heard this rumor about this company that ………………………………………” . Do NOT go by the rumors. It all depends on little luck. If you get to work in a team  that understands your aspirations and attempts to accommodate that, then that team will be best for you, irrespective of company reputation. Even when working for most reputed companies, if you’re not happy with your immediate team, you can’t work there for long. So don’t fall for stereotypes

Any other tips you’d like to share? Do share this article with freshers