IIT placements are held in two phases – the first phase in December and the second phase between January and June. However, there are some engineering students who secure a job offer even before session 1 begins on December 1. How? PPOs.

Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) is something through which students manage to secure a placement offer before the process begins on the campus. A lot of engineering students take up summer internships during their course of study, be it as part of their curriculum or their own exploration. After successful completion of their internship period, some students are offered a full-time position by the company which changes their status as an intern to a permanent employee in that company. So, when a student is given a job offer by the organisation before the institution placement drive happens or during the placement process, it is called a pre-placement offer or PPO.

On the other hand, ‘unique offers’ is what students secure during the campus placement. An IIT, usually, always mentions how many offers are unique and how many are PPOs. However, the students who secure and accept a PPO are not allowed to sit for campus placements, as per IIT rules.

Given the current economic situation in the world, getting a pre-placement offer provides an assurance and a safety blanket to engineering students. “People want to get an assurance that if they get a pre placement offer in their seventh semester, then they don’t have to bother about placement so much and they can focus on qualifying other entrance exams or preparing for their study abroad plans etc,” Lakshmi Narayan Ramasubramanian, an assistant professor at IIT Delhi told indianexpress.ccom.

Final year students usually prefer PPO because it’s kind of a win-win situation for both — the company and the students, adds Dr Lalit Pandey, placement incharge at IIT Guwahati.

When recruiters select students through PPOs, they get some time to interact and see their behaviour, professionalism, their approach towards the company and assigned work. Moreover, they can take their time to select their deserving candidate on the basis of the work.

From the students’ side, they get enough time to work in the company, understand the nature and intensity of work, and also get to assess whether or not it is something that will bring them professional, monetary, personal and mental satisfaction. Working at a company as an intern also helps students understand the work ethic and work culture of that company, before they transfer to being a permanent employee.

However, there are also many students who intern at a company and feel that the respective company is not suited for them due to difference in work ethics, aspirations, or simply because they realise they want to switch to another sector. “Due to this, we cannot have a blanket statement as to if PPO is better or it depends from person to person, and it depends on their (students’) aspirations,” Prof Narayan adds.

Another reason that a lot of students prefer PPOs, instead of unique offers, is that it takes away the anxiety of making hurried decisions. “Let’s say a student prepared for a specific company but was unable to secure a spot there, then he/she has to now quickly apply and prepare for another company. Also, when they are offered a place, the student has limited time to revert to that offer. Even the companies have to make quick and hurried decisions. So, getting a spot during the campus placements also pushes you to take on-the-spot decisions,” Dr Pandey explains.