"Very Normal": BITS Pilani Vice-Chancellor On Seeking Alumni Help For Jobs

V Ramgopal Rao said that BITS Pilani has over 7400 alumni in CEO and other senior positions

New Delhi:

After reports of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS) reaching out to their alumni network seeking help for the placement process made headlines, its group vice-chancellor V Ramgopal Rao has said it was “being blown out of proportions”.

Some institutes, including IITs and IIMs, are struggling to place their students through the campus placement process amid the present industry downturn and are reaching out to their alumni network for help, the reports said.

“It should be a very normal thing for institutions such as BITS and IITs to reach out to alumni for placements. I had done this even in my earlier role as Director, IIT Delhi. This is needed even to improve placement opportunities for students,” the former IIT Delhi director posted on X.

A clarification on BITS Pilani Dean to our alumni seeking help for Placements.

An email from @bitspilaniindia Dean (Alumni) seeking help from alumni for placements is being blown out of proportions. It should be a very normal thing for institutions such as BITS and IITs to… pic.twitter.com/kRcjv8iVFZ

— V. Ramgopal Rao, Ph.D. (@ramgopal_rao) February 25, 2024

The statement came as a clarification on “BITS Pilani Dean to our alumni seeking help for placements”.

BITS Pilani’s Arya Kumar, who is the current dean of alumni relations, sent out a notice to their alumni network for the second session of the placement season, Indian Express reported.

“You are well-aware of the current industry downturn and its effect on the businesses and prospective hiring. The global economy has not experienced this kind of slump for decades. The technology sector is radically impacted, with around 4 lakh employees being laid off globally since January 2022. This uncertainty has a cascading effect with a funding winter setting in, resulting in cost-cutting in small and large businesses alike, with hiring being affected at all levels, including the campus level. In spite of business adversities, BITS Pilani has stood strong, with our closing placement statistics for the academic year 2022-23 standing at a healthy 89.2% for Indian Campuses. Since then, however, the hiring slowdown has only deepened. Although the placement teams are doing their best, they would be very appreciative of support from our esteemed alumni to help them tide through the current crisis,” the notice read.

V Ramgopal Rao said that BITS Pilani has over 7400 alumni in CEO and other senior positions in corporates all over the world. “This mail from our Dean elicited a very positive response from alumni and many have connected with us. We also conducted a startup week during Jan 22-26, 2024  in BITS for encouraging good, well-funded startups to hire our students,” he said.

He said that students “received very attractive offers” from these startups. “24 startups that met our screening criteria participated in it. Students received very attractive offers from them. BITS has over 6300 startup founders/co-founders among its ranks,” he said.

Median salaries in BITS campuses range over Rs 20 lakhs for a batch size of roughly 3400, which is phenomenal, he added.

Mr Rao also asserted that if an institution is not tapping its eminent alumni network for placements, “they are doing something wrong”.

Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani is one of the first six institutes in India to be granted Institute of Eminence status. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences.