100% target: TN revamps placement cells in colleges

CHENNAI: In a bid to get more job opportunities for the students studying in government and government-aided colleges in the State, the Tamil Nadu government has revamped the placement cells in all the institutions.

In a first, the placement cells will also strive to ensure 100 per cent employment opportunities to the students studying in Engineering, Arts, Science and Polytechnic colleges functioning under TN government.

At present, there are over 30 government and government-aided engineering colleges and over 50 state-owned Arts and Science colleges besides about 80 polytechnic institutions across Tamil Nadu.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that each placement cell will be headed by a professor, trained specifically to handle placement activities. “They were also taught to woo companies and organisations to conduct job fairs on campus,” he added.

The official said the placement officer will also be responsible for imparting training to the students to face interviews and meet the company’s HR expectations, as framed by Anna University.

“In addition, the cell in-charge will ensure the contact details of the placement officer in all department brochures to have a single-point contact,” he said adding “the authorities will collect details of each student, including data on SSLC, HSC, semester wise performance and would provide it to the companies at the time of interview”.

He said the placement cell of each institution would ask the students to visit the organisation portal before attending the pre-placement talk to get a clear picture of the company and the job profile.

“The placement officer will also advise students in matters such as how to make themselves presentable by avoiding jeans, T-shirts and half-sleeve shirts,” he said.

“Also, they would instruct students against contacting HR directly instead of through the placement programme.”

The official said the students will be advised to avoid speaking ill of the college or university staff during interviews. “This year, we expect all the final-year students to find placements in areas of their interest,” he said.