TISS pay packets spike 20

Going has been good for students from the School of Social Work and Rural Development at TISS.

With an increase of up to 20 per cent in the average pay packet being offered,it has been a good going for students from the School of Social Work and School of Rural Development at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences TISS. Around 200 students are participating in the placements for the two schools that started on Saturday.

An assessment of the organisations participating in the placement week January 14-22 shows it will be a healthy hiring season. There seems to be no impact of the changing market dynamics on the kind of profiles or salaries being offered. Considering the profile of the graduating students,some recruiters are even considering on the spot to hire them as fellows or consultants for positions to be decided later. This is an indication of positive prospects for the graduates, said Prof Swapan Garain,coordinator,career guidance and placement cell,TISS.

The companies slotted during the placement week include Project Concern International,Chetna,GAIL,Nandi Foundation,Reliance Foundation,RPG Foundation,SOS Childrens Villages,Save the Children,Pradan,Sathi and IT for Change. The fields of work are diverse and include women and child development,rural development,social vulnerability and security,Dalit and tribal Issues,NGO management,corporate social responsibility,livelihood and micro finance among others.

However,the economic turmoil had an impact on the number of offers being made by companies to students of human resources management and labour relations at the School of Management and Labour Studies. But the salaries and profiles on offer were similar to last year. The companies include Cadbury,Nestle,Deutsche Bank,Asian Paints,Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited HPCL,Deloitte,Wipro and Honeywell.

There has been no dip in the pay packages offered. But the number of offers per company has come down from three to four last year to one this year. We have 40 students who are participating in the placements and we have placed 32 in the first phase and the remaining will be placed in the next phase, said Sasmita Palo,coordinator of placements,School of Management and Labour Studies.

Placements at other schools/centres are also underway. At the School of Heath Systems Studies,officials said the process is going well and students are happy with the salaries being offered. They are getting a variety of offers from hospitals,NGOs and sectors like IT and insurance.

Despite the market conditions,there doesnt seem to be any lack of interest on the part of companies to recruit from the campus. Placements are going on smoothly, said professor Anjali Monteiro,chairperson at the Centre for Media and Cultural Studies,where placements are underway.