Monsoon is still months away but on Sunday it rained jobs at Patna College.

Eighteen companies, including a few multinational corporations, (see graphic) turned up at the institution to offer jobs to Patna University students during a daylong job fair.

This is second job fair organised by the university in three months. The last one was held on January 31. The department of labour resources and CT Group of Institutions, Ludhiana, were the co-organisers of the event.

A total of 226 candidates went home with appointment letters on Sunday, said S.S. Tripathi, assistant director (employment), department of labour resources.

He added: “Of 17,263 applications received at the fair, around 7,000 applicants were selected for interviews in the third round.”

The applicants with relevant degrees had to submit their curriculum vitae at the counters of different companies on the college grounds. After scrutiny of the CVs, they had to appear for interviews at the academic block of the college.

Tripathi said: “The HR teams conducted the interviews. Based on the performance of the candidates, they were informed if they had been selected.”

Gautam Kumar, who holds a BTech in electronics from Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Bihta, was one of the lucky aspirants to land a job. Noida-based Appin Technology Lab selected him.

“At a time when there is a severe job crunch and fewer companies are recruiting, getting such a job feels really good,” he said.

Gautam added that the questions he faced at the interview were related to his subject and general knowledge. He, however, did not get to know his pay package.

Neha Kumari, a BE passout of RPS Engineering College, Patna, who bagged job with Vedas Infotech, would get a monthly salary of Rs 7,000.

The number of recruiters on Sunday was lower than the previous job fair though, when 35 companies had turned up to hire. The recruiters had different demands as well. Most of them were looking for engineering and management graduates, while last time, fresh graduates and postgraduates of all disciplines had opportunities to be employed.

Labour resources minister Janardan Singh Sigriwal, who attended the job fair, said: “Most companies are cutting costs and freezing recruitment at present. Such job fairs are beneficial for job seekers.”

He also asked students not to just seek employment but also become entrepreneurs. “Students should focus on becoming job providers rather than job seekers. They should learn the skill of managing companies as they work.”

Patna University acting vice-chancellor U.K. Sinha said the institution would soon have a placement cell.