Amid uncertainty in the academic calendar and downsizing in the industry due to Covid-19, the higher educational institutions in Kashmir had very low placements during the lockdown while research, educational and software companies are now showing some promise in online recruitments as the sectors are unlocking.
The placement in-charges of universities and other educational institutes of the valley say that the period of lockdown was very bad in terms of placements.
“Man big brands used to come to our university in tourism, automobiles and banking sectors but since the lockdown the corporate are not showing any interest. Our known brands are not responding and we are still waiting,” said Dr Zia-ul-Haq, placement officer of Central University of Kashmir.
“The question is of stability. Many organizations are laying people off. Campus placements are futuristic and businesses can only recruit when they see a bright outlook. The manufacturing is down, supply chains are disturbed, and transportation is minimum and the future is uncertain,” he said.
At National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, two students have been placed online during the lockdown. “We had one placement during lockdown and another student was placed in an oil company in first week of June,” said Dr Obbu Chandra Sekhar, head of the Training and Placement Department at NIT Srinagar.
He said that June was showing some promise after the announcement of unlock. “The things had really slowed down during lockdown but now they are going better. A research based company did online recruitment of five students recently. Five to six more companies are in the pipeline and will announce their results in a week’s time,” he said.
All the recruitments are happening online. “Most of these companies are research oriented, software and public sector undertakings,” he said.
At Islamic University of Science and Technology(IUST), Awantipora , an e-commerce organisation is going to hold an online placement drive for recruiting Customer Service Associates this week.
“We managed to get a few students placed during the lockdown in an online educational company and one student in Apple,” said Dr S. Iqbal Querishi, in-charge Career Counselling & Placement Officer of IUST.
“There is a change now in recruitments. Work from home is the new concept but our 2G internet speeds are hampering the online recruitment process. There is a change in student mindset to target the companies looking for work form home options,” he said.
The students are also scaling up things to improve up their skill sets particularly relating to information technology.
“The post lockdown period will be more technology oriented and the students have started thinking on those terms. Some common sectors of work from home will be online tuitions, filing tax returns, content writing and the related aspects. We have been attempting to organize online workshops for the students,” said Central University of Kashmir’s Zia-ul-Haq.
“Nobody knows where it will end and we can’t just wait. The initiative has to be taken,” he said.
