Students in the first round of the campus placement interview at Jamshedpur Women’s College. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Aug. 29: With business process outsourcing (BPO) jobs becoming lucrative, students are finding it easier to become self-dependent and earn a living for themselves.

About 150 students from around 12 colleges in and around the steel city sat for the placement interviews today at Jamshedpur Women’s College. The two-day recruitment is being conducted by Wipro for its BPO.

Some of the colleges that are participated on the campus interview on the first day were Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), Jamshedpur Women’s College, Jamshedpur Co-operative College, Karim City College, Graduate School College for Women and Ghatshila College.

“BPO boom has led to creation of more jobs. Apart from the money, they provide other facilities which attract students to this industry,” said Gauri Suresh, the professor of botany and the placement in charge of Jamshedpur Women’s College.

It is not only boys but girls too who are making a beeline for these jobs. For some this is an opportunity to go out of their hometown and explore the world. Even parents do not object to their wards leaving for their hometown for lucrative job offers. The concept of working in some other city has become common.

“It is not only about earning money but a question of identity. I will become self reliant. If I get to chose, it will be Delhi as I can do a lot from there,” said Ragini Kumari, a final year student of psychology honours who sat for the campus interview today.

The interview is divided into four rounds that include passage reading, voice assessment (telephonic conversation), technical knowledge and HR round. The students would get placed in cities like Delhi, Calcutta, Pune, Belapur and Chennai.

“We are judging the students mostly on communication skills. Since we are recruiting them for international voice process we expect better English, a good rate of speech and pronunciation from them,” said a Wipro official who came to conduct the interview.

Sixteen students of Jamshedpur Women’s College have got a job in Wipro Calcutta. The company would come out with the names of the students tomorrow.