Placement Season Log 2025

This is a retrospective log/account of my placement season (2025) at IITB.

1. Resume Rush : July-August: My 2-page core elec/ semiconductors resume looked good. I scrambled at the last moment to put together a 1 page non-core resume. I am semi-satisfied with the latter, as I made an inadvertent error. However the proof verification process allowed me to upload an updated resume, so all's good. 

Note: Experience now shows that this is actually an incredibly important time, especially for consult domain job seekers and for other roles which mainly have resume shortlisting. Even in tech and core it often goes down to the wire and your resume can make or break it for you. Thus this becomes a very crucial phase of the process.

2. Incentive Points & PPTs : Post-midsem : This is a warm-up to the placement season. Incentive points are clerical needs of the PT cell that you are expected to satisfy.

This time it involved taking domain-wise assesments on a platform called pod.ai. This actually worked out to be a good pre-cursor/practice for placement tests. 

Attendance to offline PPTs were compulsory, but eventually few happened offline. A career fair in the research park was an exercise in frivolity, but it was an opportunity to explore the new building, which is otherwise prohibitive in access.

3. Placement Tests : This was an exciting and, at times, a grueling aspect of the placement season. In core and tech roles, and even in finance and analytics roles, these tests have a major impact on whether you make it to an interview shortlist.

I did not plan to grind DSA at any point, so my placement tests mainly involved core electrical and electronics companies. Apart from that, I sat for the tests of most roles which required only an aptitude test. 

While most firms let almost everyone sit for their assessments (referred to as online assessments or OAs, though a few companies take offline pen-and-paper tests as well), a few are slightly selective. Insider scoop reveals that administration of these OAs costs money for the firm as it needs to pay the third-party platform for proctoring. 

Note : Experience shows that aptitude tests are incredibly important. I have seen folks with good domain knowledge and job qualifications miss out on getting interview shortlists due to their sub-optimal performance in aptitude tests.

4. Interview Shortlists : Based on OAs and resume filtering, firms start releasing their interview shortlists. This is a moment of joy (if you are getting one or multiple shortlists) or, on the flip side, a period of anxiety (if you aren't getting many shortlists). 

While some firms release their shortlists beforehand, the major chunk of shortlists become clear in the last week of November, the week before the placement season.

I had shortlists for interviews in the following firms, with the roles listed alongside: 

1. Texas Instruments 

     Analog Engineer

2. Applied Materials 

     Application Engineer 

3. Sprinklr

     Product Analyst 

4. SEDEMAC Mechatronics

    Electronic Hardware Engineer

5. Futures First

    Trainee - International Markets

6. Kirloskar Oil Engines 

    Deputy Manager

7. Swiggy 

    Graduate Trainee - Operations

(I got this shortlist on the blog after I got placed, and it was promptly updated to remove the names of placed students)