More IITians choose pre-placement offers over on-campus placements for peace of mind

As the placement season kicks off at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the first week of December, several students have chosen to skip this round of placements, having already secured a Pre-Placement Offer (PPO).

Prior to the commencement of the campus placement drive, a PPO is offered when students receive a placement offer.

The process of obtaining a PPO begins more than a year before the start of the on-campus placement drive.

During their studies, many engineering students participate in summer internships, either as part of the curriculum or for personal development.

After a successful internship, some students receive a full-time offer from the employer, converting their status from intern to permanent employee.

Depending on their research and the institute’s partnerships, students may be able to secure internships either on or off campus.

Following the 2022 summer internships, IIT Madras reported receiving a record-breaking 350 PPOs for the 2022–2023 placement season.

The number of PPOs at IIT Delhi also increased, rising from about 150 in 2020–21 to over 230 in 2021–22.

Out of 1,267 internship offers, 300 PPOs were received, and 258 were accepted during the most recent placement season at IIT Bombay.

Similarly, out of the 227 PPOs provided during the most recent placement season, 189 were accepted.

“Accepting a PPO is recommended for students to reduce pressure during their final year. This is particularly relevant now, as the job market is undergoing a major transformation due to the redundancy of low-level IT jobs,” said Lakshmi Narayan Ramasubramanian, an assistant professor at IIT Delhi.

“Moreover, since the academic load, in terms of courses and credits, is lighter in the final year, a PPO provides enough mental freedom to consider other career paths, such as higher education or entrepreneurship,” the professor added.

“Imagine an on-campus placement drive as an open and free, but limited-time buffet where we have a choice of several dishes, but we must ensure that we seize the opportunity before the dish runs out,” said an IIT alumnus.

“I had previously secured a PPO, which I kept as a backup option, but still sat for the on-campus placement drive. It was stressful, for sure, but I managed to secure a better offer in the first phase itself,” the alumnus added.

Initially, students were hesitant to accept a PPO because they believed that an offer received during the on-campus placement drive would offer better prospects and higher remuneration.

The trend seems to be shifting, as IITians are now opting to settle with PPOs rather than enduring the constant stress of securing a job offer, as it allows them to relax during their final year.

After working as an intern at Google’s India headquarters in Bengaluru from May to July, Umar Sayed, a 23-year-old from IIT Goa, accepted a PPO from the company.

“A few months after I completed my internship at Google, the company reached out to me with a full-time offer. I was happy to accept it, and my joining date is in July 2025. I preferred accepting the PPO because the on-campus placement drive would have involved much more effort, but now I get to enjoy my final year of college without the stress of securing a job offer,” Umar said.

The current market situation is another factor contributing to students' preference for a PPO over an on-campus placement drive; they believe that ongoing instability and layoffs may jeopardize their chances of landing a job through the on-campus placements.

An IIT Bombay student who interned at a Hyderabad-based software company between May and July 2024 said, "It could have happened. There was a possibility of me not securing a good job offer as this year’s placement forecast was poor due to the vulnerable market conditions — which nobody can control.”

“So, I accepted a PPO as it acts as a safety net and gives me the freedom to focus on my other passions, interests, and the final year of my college life. Also, on-campus placements are not easy; they involve cut-throat competition,” he added.

He has already started working as an entry-level software engineer, as per the terms of his PPO.

While PPOs are now beginning to offer CTCs comparable to those given during on-campus placements, experts advise students to accept a PPO based on the suitability of the work profile at the firm where they interned.

“While the magnitude of the CTC package remains a typical yardstick for measuring the prestige of a PPO, this is a short-sighted perspective. The nature of work varies across companies, and the general rule of thumb is that higher pay packages come with the risk of longer working hours and greater performance pressure,” said Ramasubramanian.

“Although everyone thinks they can manage better than those suffering from these occupational hazards, they are absolutely mistaken. Work-related stress silently accumulates over time and takes a serious toll on both mental and physical health,” the professor added.

He continued, “The best metric to assess a PPO is job engagement, the general morale of the employees in the company, company incentives, and the behavior towards employees. Of the above-mentioned factors, job engagement is the most difficult to gauge and can only be assessed qualitatively.”

“For instance, the student must consider how much they want to learn in a particular field and assess the degree to which they enjoy the work. If they only like 50% of the work they are doing, they should not choose the PPO,” he added.

The professor explained, “This is why students must focus on actually exploring the complete scope of the job, the kind of work done at higher levels, and the long-term viability of their employment in a field during their internship, instead of posting LinkedIn essays about how they got a chance to work in a ‘prestigious’ company.”