Organizing campus placements is quite the challenge! From communicating with companies, sharing candidate information, to allocating slots – conducting a placement drive involves major planning and coordination. Typically, placement cell officers spend months planning and organizing a campus placement drive. This is because a large chunk of the work is handled manually.
Since TPOs are in charge of organizing drives, they are burdened with multiple responsibilities. Lack of a centralized platform to manage data makes it difficult for them to communicate with companies and provide all the required information. They spend hours compiling and organizing data in the standardized format before sharing with the companies.
Here are some of the common challenges TPOs face:
Fixing time slots: Placement officers have to fix time slots suitable for companies as well as colleges. They must ensure the slots do not overlap with important college activities and are in sync with the company’s availability as well. Since they have to coordinate with a number of companies to fix the slots, it becomes a tedious process for them to keep checking the spreadsheets and updating slots.
Sharing Candidate Details: Companies have different formats in which they seek candidate information from colleges. The TPOs have to identify all the companies they wish to contact, collate student information and organize it into the required formats and send them to the companies. This is a time-consuming and tedious process and requires a lot of effort from their end.
Building market recognition for the institution: Brand value of a company improves their chances of recruiting the best talent. Similarly, colleges too require market recognition. Placement officers have to create campaigns to attract top companies to conduct recruitment drives and hire candidates from their college.
Ensuring good infrastructure: Adequate supply of stationery, well-functioning computers, furniture, assessment tests, proper conference room for conducting interviews are are just some of the things that need to be looked into when organizing a placement drive. The TPOs have to ensure these are in place so that there is no inconvenience or hold up because of a scarcity of supplies.
With so much on their plates, it is no mean feat to pull off a successful placement drive. Today, technology is transforming all sectors including campus placement and recruitment. Companies and colleges are able to manage a lot of tasks by integrating technology into their day-to-day activities, which not only helps them save time but also conduct a seamless drive.
Here are five time-tested advantages of switching to an online platform for managing all placement-related activities:
Data organization and access: With a centralized online platform for managing data, TPOs need not scroll through spreadsheets for information. They can make use of search and filter options to access the required data on the go. They can also edit/update information easily, thereby saving their precious time. Viewing the data in a single, standard format is also possible using an online platform.
Better communication and coordination: With data in hand, TPOs can coordinate better with companies for time slots and can communicate these details to candidates as well as companies better. This reduces confusion and gives a better clarity for everyone. Date, time, and venue can be updated on the centralized platform and shared with all.
Data-driven decision making: Online platforms use Artificial Intelligence to help make informed decisions. With all data meticulously compiled and organized under one platform, there are lesser chances of errors in judgement..
Keep track of student performances: Placement officers can keep track of candidate performances with the help of reports generated on the platform itself. They can search or filter data to view academic and overall performance to suggest areas of improvements to the students.
Prepare better for future placements: TPOs can analyze how the college has performed in the previous and current placement drives and come up with better strategies for the future.
As a TPO, if you are looking for some respite from manual work, Pod.ai (formerly Calyxpod) can be your go-to solution. It is an intelligent platform that provides central storage and allows you to access and view data in a standardized format. Visit the website https://www.pod.ai/ to understand more about Pod.ai (formerly Calyxpod) and its features.
