1st time in the placement history of TNAU
Bumper placement season for agri graduates at TNAUThe mood at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) campus was euphoric. The placement season started with a bang when 15 students of this prestigious institution bagged their placement orders from overseas companies — the first time in the placement history of TNAU.Twelve postgraduate students were selected by a Dubai-based company that is into landscaping and micro irrigation with an offer of around Rs 5 lakh per annum on the first day itself. Three students have been selected by a Sri Lankan-based retail chain with an initial offer of Rs 35,000 per month.“This is the first time that we are having overseas companies on our premises for recruitment process and the salaries too are the highest ever offered for our students,” Mr M Thangaraju, director, placement cell, TNAU, told.
On the domestic recruiters front, banks are still leading the race. In 2006, only five banks visited the campus and this year it has almost doubled with demand high for the posts of agriculture development officers, cane inspectors, field officers and project evaluators. Of the 438 students who passed out in 2006, around 120 were absorbed by banks and this year the number is likely to touch 150. “Seeing the demand for agri graduates in the banking sector, we have decided to increase the minimum salary slab from Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 this year for under graduates and from Rs 12,000 to Rs 16,000 for the post graduates,” according to Mr C Ramaswamy, vice chancellor, TNAU.
A cross section of the students who have been headhunted by banks felt that the financial institutions offer them a less tension-oriented, white collar job besides brightening their chances in the marriage market! Some of the players in the booming retail sector also have visited the campus and Aditya Birla group has so far absorbed around 16 students specialising in MBA (Agricultural Management) and Food processing engineering. The company is likely to visit the campus again by April-end. Other players like Reliance Retail and Bharti-Wal-Mart have also evinced interest in recruiting students from TNAU, Mr Thangaraju added.
