Let us look at today’s scenario in the corporate ladder. The first step for us as a candidate is to get a place in the company of our choice and then a suitable job relevant to our skills and ambition. We go to a nearby job consultancy office to know the entry process in a company of our choice.

There we meet and shake hands with a person sitting behind the desk, probably with a computer. The officer makes us fill in a form asking for information about us, our skills, our educational qualifications, our career goals etc. Then he will give a short interview with us after seeing the form. The person whom we are talking to is the Placement Officer. 

 Now let us look in the mirror and view from the other side. We are in the Human Resources & Development (HR&D) department of a company. As a HRD manager there we are looking for suitable candidates for the company for various jobs in sales & marketing, personal,finance, accounts, administration, information technology etc. As a company’s employee we have responsibility towards our company to get candidates with relevant skills for the various jobs at different positions in the company. 

The whole game starts here.Both the candidate applying for the job and the HRD officer of the company are looking for their best interests. Then we have a third person who tries to negotiate between the two to get a WIN-WIN situation for both. The person we are referring to is a placement officer. 

Now let us look at the whole process of recruitment of candidates in a company in both the government and private sector. 

What is Staffing?

 

Staffing includes the whole process of identifying.assessing, placing, evaluating, and developing individuals at work. It involves the matching of jobs and individuals. 

What are the steps involved in the staffing process? 

Staffing involves numbers of functions like planning,selection,training and appraisal of the individuals. There are the 7 Steps involved in the process of staffing. 

1. Manpower Planning  

Manpower planning is defined as the process by which the management ensures the right number of people and the right kinds of people at the right place at the right time doing the right things for which they are best suited. 

2. Job analysis 

Job analysis is the process of systematic collection of data in the organization to redesign each job in such a way to distinguish it from other jobs.  

3. Selection 

Selection is the process of choosing the most suitable person among the candidates both from within the organization or from outside for the current position or for the future position. 

4. Tests and Interview 

All of us have different physical characteristics, capacity, level of mental ability, likes and dislikes and with respect to personality traits. Tests and Interview measure these differences among the individual candidates. These tests provide us with the candidate’s intelligence,aptitude,interest,personality,etc. 

5. Placement 

Placement is the appointment of the candidates after selection to the specific jobs after matching the requirements of the jobs and the skills of the candidate concerned. 

6. Induction and Orientation 

Induction and orientation are the process of introducing a new employee to the organization, its culture, procedures, rules and regulations and its people with whom he will interact in his day to day working. 

7. Performance Appraisal 

Performance appraisal measures and evaluates employees with respect to their performance on the jobs and their potential for development.  

Here we will be discussing STEP 5 of the staffing process I.e., the Placement, The Placement officer who does it and the career path of the placement officer.  

 

Placement and Placement officers 

Placement- Definition 

 

“Placement is the determination of the job to which an accepted candidate is to be assigned and his assignment and to that job.” 

                                                                   Pigors and Myers 

To put it in simple words, placement is the process of sending newly selected personnel to some department for work. It is also concerned with the assignment of authority and responsibility to the newly assigned candidates in the company.Effective placement is putting the right man in the right job. 

Placement is an important HR function and new recruits must be inducted properly so that they become good performers. 

Placement helps the employers in achieving the following objectives:  

1. It improves the morale of the employees  
2. It reduces employee turnover  
3. Placement decreases accident rates  
4. Enhances labour productivity  
5. Clarifies expectations.

What is a Placement officer? 

Placement officers are the human resources experts.They are responsible for placing university and college students in the suitable work environments by sending them to relevant employers.They do this by sending candidates to those jobs that require matching skills.  

Placement officers mostly work for tertiary education providers such as universities,TAFEs,RTOs, and specialized training organizations. 

 Placement Officers Job Description 

Here are the Placement officer’s roles & responsibilities 

• Finding effective placement opportunities for students. 
• To conduct proper training of students. 
• Liaison with students and employers during placement. 
• Foster relationships with employment providers. 
• To work in close coordination with coordinator industry and institute for organizing lectures and seminars from the professionals from various educational institutes and industry. 

• To collect feedback from the companies for placement. 
• Conduct pre-placement background checks 
• Organize entrepreneurship workshop.

How can you become a Placement Officer? 

Skill set for placement officers 

Here are the key skills that an employer looks for in a placement officer. 

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
•  Must be proficient in management & economics. 
• He must be aware of industrial clusters in terms of sectors and locations. 
• He must have excellent networking skills and able to build contacts & credible reciprocal relationships with top brass in the industry. 
• A placement officer must be able to facilitate industry-institute relationship. 
• He must be good in public relations and liaisoning. 
• He must be well aware of the changing needs of industry.government policies and national economy. 
• He must be proactive,always have a positive attitude, and be an optimist. 
• He must be able to work under strict targets and stressful conditions. 

Educational Qualifications for Placement officers. 

You must have at least a degree in graduation in any subject to start your career as Placement officer.It is desirable that the placement officers must have same degree that is being offered.However you must have significant experience in the industry with good network and contacts with the top brass in the big business houses. 

A MBA or PGDBM in Human Resources & Development has become also necessary in the present context. 

Here are the list of top business schools in India offering  MBAs offering HR. 

 

Institute	Locations	Course	Eligibility	Website/Information
Indian Institute of Management	Ahmedabad	PGDBM	At least 10+2+3 in any discipline	www.iimahd.ernet.in/
Management Development Institute	Gurgaon	PGDBM	At least 10+2+3 in any discipline	http://www.mdi.ac.in/
Xavier Labour Research Institute (XLRI) – Xavier School of Management	Jamshedpur	PGDBM	At least 10+2+3 in any discipline	www.xlri.ac.in
Tata Institute of Social Science	Mumbai	PGDBM	Own entrance	www.tiss.edu

 

  

Here are few of the top business schools of the world offering MBAs in HR. 

Institute	Courses	Average Score in GMAT	Country	Website
University of Chicago – Booth School of Business	MBA	720	USA	https://www.chicagobooth.edu/
Stanford Graduate School of Business	MBA	720	USA	https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/
Harvard Business School	MBA	730	USA	http://www.hbs.edu/Pages/default.aspx
University of Pennsylvania-Wharton	MBA	728	USA	https://www.wharton.upenn.edu/
London business school	MBA	700	UK	https://www.london.edu/
INSEAD	MBA	703	France	http://www.insead.edu/home/
University of Oxford- Saïd Business School	MBA	690	UK	http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk
HEC Paris MBA	MBA	690	France	http://www.mba.hec.edu/
NUS Business School	MBA	672	Singapore	http://bschool.nus.edu
HKUST Business School	MBA	600	Hong Kong	http://www.bm.ust.hk/

 

 Cost of fees 

The cost of an MBA from a top business school in India would range between INR 8 lakhs to INR 25 lacs comprehensively. A MBA degree from abroad will cost you between INR 35 lacs to INR 90 lacs comprehensively.If you go for an Executive MBAs which are of shorter duration the total costs rises much higher. 

 

The Scope of Placement Officer as Career 

Let us look at the current statistics. 

The percentage of the working population in India is 59.5 percent of the total population. 

India has the largest universities in the world.Today India has around 1000 + universities and 42000 + colleges imparting higher education. 

There are a total of 3500 engineering colleges,1260 medical colleges,3400 polytechnics, and 200 design and architecture schools in india. 

Today about 8.15% of Indians are graduates. 

The unemployment rate in India in 2021 was 5.98%. The number of Job seekers in India in 2016 as per CEIC data was 43.5 million. 

This leads us to the fact that there is a tremendous scope of education in India and lots of opportunities for placement officers. 

The placement officers are much in demand in these colleges and universities as college and university placement officers especially those offering professional degrees like engineering colleges,Business Schools,CA Institutes, Vocational training institutes, and training institutes like NIIT which have their own placement cell and needs student placement officers to liaison with the industry for placement in various companies. 

Also a Placement officer with experience and Network & Contact in the industry can start his own career placement office.  

Placement Agencies 

 

Today the Indian staffing market is $10 billion.It is growing at the rate of 28% per annum and is poised to become one of the largest by the year 2030.Today recruitment industry in India is a huge industry and cover areas like talent acquisition,employee responsibilities,reskilling employees and providing them with good compensation. 

The placement agencies take care of recruiting the job seekers to the employers.A placement agency is a private firm placing people in jobs in various companies.The placement agency provide nation-wide service by matching the demand and supply of work-force  and invite the bio-data and record from various job-seekers and send them to suitable clients.They charge fees for providing such service from both the job-seeker and commission(about 2% –2.5% of the salary) from the company where the job seeker is successfully placed. 

There are about 23,000 recruitment companies in India where we find work placement officers waiting to recruit the job seekers to approach them.Also the companies hire these placement agencies to recruit the candidates in different departments like strategy and management, operations, human resources, finances, funding opportunities, IT, and sales and marketing. 

 

Top 10 Placement agencies in India 

Here are the top ten placement agencies in India where you can work as a placement officer. 

1. Teamplus staffing solution(IT staffing company in India) 

• Industry:Recruitment & Staffing consultant 
• Location:Pune,Maharashtra 

Teamplus staffing solution is a renowned placement agency. The agency provides expertise in a wide range of staffing assistance like Contract Staffing Services, Permanent Staffing Services,  RPO Services, Offshore Staffing Services, Remote/ Virtual IT Staffing Services, and Onsite Recruitment Services in India and other nations 

 

2. ABC Job placement 

• Industry: Recruitment Consultants 
• Location: New Delhi 

“Building Careers” is the Motto of ABC job placement and is one of the top placement agencies. It has over 500 job consultants and it is one of the best talent acquisition companies for offering the best and most personalised recruitment solutions. 

 

3. Zigsaw consultancy 

• Industry: HR Consultants 
• Location:Udaipur,Rajasthan 

With a stronghold in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, Zigsaw consultancy is currently operating in all of India’s major cities.This company is totally focussed on human resources and works closely with its alliance partners to find the best personnel. The consultancy has various customizable hiring plans which companies can choose.Additionally they have Free Hiring Model which works well with small and medium sized businesses for the recruiting companies. 

 

4. M.M. Enterprises 

• Industry:Human Resources Consultants 
• Location:Delhi 

M.M. Enterprises offers comprehensive HR solutions to the esteemed businesses.The consultancy offers workforce outsourcing with distinct client –specific needs and tailored solutions.It mainly focuses on employee leasing,staffing and placement services.It has the best HR professionals in the industry with comprehensive payroll services and resume writing services to kickstart the career of job seekers. 

6. Randstad 

•  Industry:IT Staffing & Recruitment Consultants 
•  Location: Chennai 

Established in 1992 Randstad was previously called “Ma Foi”. The agency has built a solid reputation in the placement industry by offering its clients high quality recruitment services.It has now regarded as one of the top recruitment agencies in India for HR services . With presence in over 20 cities Randstad is the second largest recruiting- firm in the world.The company provides various HR services including hiring people on temporary and permanent contracts, offering HR-based solutions, and providing in-house services. 

7. Kelly Services 

• Industry:HR Consultants 
• Location:Pune 

Kelly is an American Multinational recruiting firm established in America in 1946.It quickly  expanded overseas and started its operation in India in 2001.Kelly support has become a market leader in providing workforce solutions, including candidate’s recruiting client service, and staffing solution across industries.The HR division of Kelly services has won many awards for its policies,quality procedures,involvement in the community in the community, and supplier diversity.Kelly services specializes in hiring scientific positions for scientific positions,mid-senior level positions, engineering recruitments, IT recruitments,financial services, and functional recruitment. 

8. Teamlease Services 

• Industry:Recruitment Consultants 

• Location: India 

Founded in 2002 Teamlease services is one of the top recruitment consultants in India having more than 1700 workers and 2500 clients nationwide.Its mission is “Putting India to work”. It is ranked eighth in the Fortune India magazine.Today Teamlease services employs more than 1.7 million people and have about 2 lac associates dispersed across dispersed across the country’s 6600+ locations.The company offers wide range of services like evaluations,corporate training programs in payroll outsourcing, temporary and permanent staffing, regulatory compliances, and more. 

9. Adecco India 

• Industry:Staffing&Recruitment 
• Location:Bangalore 

Adecco is a bangalore-based recruitment firm that has expanded its offerings and has produced amazing results by offering top-notch services to its customers. 

10. Sutra HR 

• Industry:HR Consultants 
• Location:Mumbai 

Sutra HR was founded in 2008 and now has more than 500 clients connected to various industries.The company has major clients in various countries in Malaysia,Singapore,the Middle East,Indonesia, and the UK. 

11. CareerNet 

• Industry:Recruitment consultants 
• Bangalore 

  CareerNet was started in 1999 and now one of the top ten recruitment firms in India.The company offers workforce solution to ite customers all over the world.CareerNet offers its clients excellent and affordable recruitment solutions.The IT, FMC,banking,knowledge services, and insurance industries are the major CareerNet’s clients. 

Potential Earnings 

The Placement officer remunerations depends on his experience and the type of institution where he works.Generally the starting  salary ranges from INR 3.5lacs to INR 6 lacs per annum when one joins as assistant placement officer.As the experience grows the salary can reach INR 20 lacs per annum or even higher. 

 

Conclusion 

In today’s high profile and fast paced life when you do not have time to even wink, placement officers play a very important role in your career process. They have become indispensable by helping you with proper career guidance as you advance in your career path.Their knowledge and experience in dealing with the right people in the industry along with back- up of professional recruiting firms have helped millions of job-seekers to get proper jobs matching their qualifications and experience in the industry.

Further they are also given career guidance at the time of Job-switching where the post  placement support officer provides them with information of new companies and other facilities like salary,location of work etc. beforehand to make their placement easier and comfortable to the new company.He also give them impartial feedback from the employers from time to time so he can improve his performance in the company. 

No doubt Placement officers have become synonymous with the industry. No body wants to be recruited directly now but through recruiting agents. The scope of placement officer has increased tremendously as a career and more people want become one to help others like them to seek jobs.

With the rapid growth in the industry and the complication arising in getting jobs especially for job seekers coming  from small towns to big cities the role of placement officers has become even more important and respectable with better remuneration.