Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: The placements session at Utkal University began today with Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) visiting the campus to recruit assistant software engineers. Six out of 53 students, who appeared for the test, landed jobs with the IT major for an annual pay package of Rs 3.3 lakh.

“I am overjoyed. It was my dream to work in an IT company. Despite being a non-engineering student, I managed to secure a job with TCS and this is an achievement for me. However, at the same time, I feel sad that only two of the 27 students from our (Integrated MCA) department were selected,” said Jeevan Mohanty, a ninth-semester student of I-MCA. TCS had recruited 10 students from the university in January.

Today’s test was held in three phases. It included an online test, a technical interview and a human resources interview sessions. According to TCS guidelines, the candidates must have a first-division career throughout to be eligible for the recruitment process. The shortlisted candidates are from the post-graduation courses of MCA, integrated MCA, MSc (computer science) and ME (knowledge engineering).

“Six students have been selected today by TCS. I am very happy that our students are doing well and this has attracted reputed companies to come here for the placement drive. We are in touch with several IT and management companies, banks, and government agencies and hope they visit our campus in the future,” said P.K. Sahoo, vice-chancellor of Utkal University.

Sarit Panda, placement officer of Utkal University, said the campus recruitment drive for the year had just begun and efforts were on to invite more companies. “We are happy to have started our placement season with TCS. We were hoping that more students would be recruited than last time,” he said.

Integrated MCA course coordinator Sateesh Pradhan said: “Despite the fact that the IT industry is going through a recession, it is heartening that IT companies are visiting our campus and recruiting students.”

However, several students seemed disappointed since they could not take part in the campus recruitment process. “Though I secured a first division in my Plus Two, I could not take part in the process because they did not consider the marks in my fourth optional subject. The state board needs to change the system of grading so that students like me don’t lose out on such opportunities,” said Bhagirathi Behera, a final-year student of MCA.

The placement has raised hopes of the first-year students. “If this trend of placement continues, we can rest assured that we could get a job by the end of our post-graduation,” said Chandrakant Baral, a first-year student of computer science.