Why In-depth Data Analysis of a Placement Cell is Necessary? Find out Key Result Areas to Decide Future Initiatives Based on Data Analysis!

Abstract:

In the face of the ongoing structural changes in the Indian economy with an increasing role for competitive market forces, enterprises are challenged in making the right strategic decisions that would ensure success. Policy makers are challenged in devising enabling policies that would encourage efficiency, growth and fairness. Facing up to these challenges requires, among other things, a good grasp of the underlying economic issues, facility with the necessary quantitative tools that aid in-depth analysis and informed judgment. One of the major objectives of MSE is to equip our youngsters to meet this crying need.

The approach adopted in our graduate program strives to provide the students a good foundation in economic principles & theory and to enable meaningful application of this knowledge to a wide range of issues. They are equipped with the knowledge and facility to use the necessary quantitative tools. The emphasis is to encourage an economic way of thinking.

This article underlines the significance of key results areas and gives an insight on finding appropriate answer of what, where, why, how and when.

Keywords:

Placement Cell, Key Result Areas, Data Analysis, Factors, Methods, Tools, Practices, Performance

Learning Outcomes

After undergoing this article you will be able to understand the following:

1. What's Data Analysis of a Placement Cell?

2. What purposes are fulfilled with Data Analysis of Placement Cell?

3. What factors are considered as Key Result Areas of Placement Cell?

4. What elements are analysed to determine performance of placement cell?

5. How many steps are involved in analysing the Data of Placement?

6. What charts, diagrams and trend lines provide the clear understanding of the performance of the Placement Cell?

7. What are the modern tools and techniques most preferred now a days?

8. What strategies are necessary to improve key results areas?

9. How data analysis benefits an institution?

10. How forcasting can be made superior on the basis of data analysis?

11. What's forcasting tools are used to project the future trends?

12. Conclusions

13. FAQs

References

1. What's Data Analysis of a Placement Cell?

Job placement data means information collected by the board, and based on information from the department, that reflects the job placement rate and industry employment information for a student who graduates from a program.

2. What purposes are fulfilled with Data Analysis of Placement Cell?

Data analysis is the process of collecting, organizing, and analyzing data to understand the data and discover helpful conclusions from it. Data Analysis uses analytical and logical reasoning to find useful information from the data.

The main purpose of data analysis is to gain meaningful insights from raw data to support decision-making, identify patterns, and extract valuable information.

Therefore, the data analysis of placement cell will help in

1. Plan activities which gave good results

2. Decide the companies to be invited for campus placement.

3. Check the deficiency why students not performed well.

4. Act to enhance the desired quality and skills in students so that they become employable

5. Determine types of training and internship to be provided

6. Collaboration with like minded companies and corporate for traing and planning pre placement.

7. Refining training and skill needs assessment

8. Balancing between budget and expenditures of Placement Cell.

9. Extending invitation to the companies where you foresee good results

10. Steering ahead academic and placement activities without overlap and hindrances.

3. What factors are considered as Key Result Areas of Placement Cell?

Key Result Areas (KRAs) are specific, measurable goals that a company or individual sets to track progress and success. They can be used in any context, but are often used in human resources to track employee goals and objectives.

The key result areas of placement cell really on the following factors

Factor 1

#ACCREDITATION AND AFFILIATION

It is important to ensure that the college is recognized by any apex body and affiliated to a reputed university.

Accreditation ensures that the college meets the standards set by regulatory bodies and provides quality education to students.

Factor 2

#PLACEMENT RECORD

The placement record of the college is another important factor to consider. Students should research the companies that visit the campus, the percentage of students placed, and the average salary offered. This information will give them a clear idea of the college’s reputation and the opportunities available to them after graduation.

Factor 3.

#FACULTY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The faculty and infrastructure of the college play a vital role in providing a conducive learning environment for students. Students should research the qualifications and experience of the faculty members, the availability of modern facilities and equipment, and the quality of the library and laboratories.

Factor 4:

#INDUSTRY RELEVANCE

The curriculum and teaching methodology of the college should be relevant to the needs of the industry. Students should look for colleges that provide practical training, internships, and projects that prepare them for the real-world challenges they will face in their careers. They should also look for colleges that have collaborations with industry partners, providing students with exposure to the latest technologies and trends in the industry.

Factor 5

#STUDENT SUPPORT AND EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

The college should provide adequate support and guidance to students in areas such as placement training, soft skills development, and career counseling. Students should also look for colleges that offer a range of extracurricular activities such as sports, cultural events, and technical symposiums. These activities provide opportunities for personal and professional growth and help students to develop their leadership, teamwork, and communication skills.

Factor 6

ALUMNI NETWORK

The alumni network of the college is an important factor to consider when selecting a college for placement. A strong alumni network can help students to connect with industry professionals and provide them with valuable insights into the industry. Students should research the alumni network of the college, the alumni events organized, and the success stories of the alumni.

Factor 7.

REPUTATION AND RANKING

The reputation and ranking of the college are also important factors to consider. Students should research the college’s rankings by reputed agencies such as NIRF, QS, and Times Higher Education. The college’s reputation in the industry and academic circles can also influence the placement opportunities available to students.

Factor 8

#LOCATION

The location of the college is another factor to consider. Students should choose a college that is located in a safe and accessible area with good connectivity. The proximity of the college to industrial zones and corporate offices can also influence the placement opportunities available to students.

Factor 9.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID

The availability of scholarships and financial aid can also influence the choice of placement. Students should research the scholarships and financial aid options available to them and choose a college that provides adequate support to deserving students.

Factor 10.

#CAMPUS LIFE AND ENVIRONMENT

The campus life and environment of the college can also influence the choice of placement college. Students should look for colleges that provide a vibrant and inclusive campus life with a range of extracurricular activities, clubs, and events. The campus should also be environmentally friendly and provide a healthy and safe living and learning environment for students.

4. What elements are analysed to determine performance of placement cell?

The Placement Cell strives to groom students for the industry while assisting them in getting varied and suitable job opportunities. The opportunities offered as quantitative as well as qualitative, to correctly fit the skills of the students.

Performance of placement cell

Placement cells help students know about the industry they are getting into. They will be heading out into the professional world with a lot more awareness and preparation. This is, of course, the main aim of a placement cell – getting students placed in good companies, where they can start their careers.

The following elements ensure success of the placement cell

self confidence ( most important)
good communication skill.
good presentation skill.
dressing sense.
Aptitude skill.
basic knowledge of your particular field.
If you are not knowing very well about asking questions then tell " No " politely ( also very important)

The Placement Cell believes in a collaborative approach and therefore does not restrict the corporate engagement to only the third year, ready to graduate students. As a student body, we acknowledge the need for the 'trial and error method for our students from the very first year. Conducting rigorous internship drives, irrespective of any factors has been one of our strongest initiatives to give our students exactly what is required in their day and age.

The elements which determine the performance of students which are held under the aegis of placement cell include the following

1. General Category

2. Specific to placement cell

1. General category of elements which ensure placement

Candidates need to showcase their skill set and expertise. Great communication skills, confidence, openness to learn, multitasking, leadership skills and being a team player are some of the essential qualities you need to acquire.

15 Most Important elements For Placements analysis are the following

Numbers of students placed

Percentage of students placed

Salary range of students placed

Average of students placed

Ratio and Proportion of students placed vs appeared

Mixture of courses and programs w.r.t to placement

Time duration for selection process

Work culture of the participanting companies vs students skills

Time Speed Distance.

Direct hire – the employee is hired for a particular role.

Temporary – either the role or the placement are for a fixed period of time.

Temporary to permanent time duration– if the employee does well, the role can become permanent.

Support to Student for placement – supporting the studies of a student during breaks or in a gap year.

Job retention

Career graph vs progression

Satisfaction survey

5. How many steps are involved in analysing the Data of Placement?

Data-driven decision-making is an important part of Data Analysis. It makes the analysis process much easier. There are six steps for Data Analysis. They are:

Ask or Specify Data Requirements
Prepare or Collect Data
Clean and Process
Analyze
Share
Act or Report

So these steps are to be followed for data analysis of placement cell

Ask. The data analyst is given a problem/business task. The analyst has to understand the task and the stakeholder’s expectations for the solution.

Communicate effectively with the stakeholders and other colleagues to completely understand what the underlying problem is. Questions to ask yourself for the Ask phase are:

What are the problems that are being mentioned by my stakeholders?
What are their expectations for the solutions?

Prepare or Collect the Data. This step includes collecting data and storing it for further analysis. The analyst has to collect the data based on the task given from multiple sources.

Clean and Process Data

The third step is Process. After the data is collected from multiple sources, it is time to clean the data. Clean data means data that is free from misspellings, redundancies, and irrelevance. Clean data largely depends on data integrity.

Analyze

The fourth step is to Analyze. The cleaned data is used for analyzing and identifying trends.

The fifth step is Share. Nothing is more compelling than a visualization. The data now transformed has to be made into a visual(chart, graph).

Act or Report

The final/sixth step is Act. After a presentation is given based on your findings, the stakeholders discuss whether to move forward or not.

6. What charts, diagramrs and trend lines provide the clear understanding of the performance of the Placement Cell?

Data and statistics are all around us. It is very likely that you have found yourself looking at a chart or graph at work, in the news, sports, media, advertising, and many other places at some point in your life. That is because graphical representations of data make it easier to convey important information to different audiences.

Area graph.
Scatter plot.
Pie chart.
Pictograph.
Column chart.
Bubble chart.
Gauge chart.
Stacked Venn.
Bar chart
Line chart
Histogram
Box plot
Dual axis chart
Mekko chart

There are many more other types of charts, graphs diagrams etc and according to suitability of projecting data they are choosen to use.

7. What are the modern tools and techniques for placement most preferred to use now a days?

The modern tools should be used in placement cell in planning, organizing, directing capturing and control are the following

1. AI Systems

2. Application Tracking Systems

3. Video interview tools

4. Virtual Reality Communication

5. Social Media Platforms

6. Digital job searching facility

7. Company reviews platforms

8. Communication automation

9. SEO optimization

10. Mobile application optimisation

11. Online Recruitment Marketing

12. Newsletters for publicity

13. Skilling resources and facilities

14. Preserving tools such as Archiving facility.

The data science profession is challenging, but fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to help the data scientist succeed at their job. And now that we know what is data science, it's lifecycle and more about the role in general, let us dig into it's tools.

Data Analysis: SAS, Jupyter, R Studio, MATLAB, Excel, RapidMiner
Data Warehousing: Informatica/ Talend, AWS Redshift
Data Visualisation: Jupyter, Tableau, Cognos, RAW
Machine Learning: Spark MLib, Mahout, Azure ML studio

8. What strategies are necessary to improve key results areas for placement cell?

An organization’s Key Result Areas will vary depending on the organization. But, several broad areas are a part of KRAs for many organizations.

They include the following:

Profit and economic gain
Customer satisfaction
Students happiness
Placement quality
Organizational management
Innovation
Training and placement
Salary
Future
Retention of placed students
Goal matching

As a placement officer of a college, you should have effective strategies as to how to attract companies for campus placement and answers to some common questions:

1. How high is the Campus Placement Percentage of your college?

2. Name some big companies that are frequent visitors to your college.

3. The Total number of students who got placed from the last batch.

4. What is the company-forecast for this year's Placement?

5. Top Salary package from the last batch

So what's the best way to answer such questions?

Discover answers here;

Strategy #1:

Personality Development programs:

Include the personality Development programs from the First semester itself. Make it fun and interesting for the students so that they enjoy the process and become better in terms of communication skills and other areas which recruiters look for during hiring.

Think about placements from day one and not at the end of the year.

Strategy #2:

Create a presence of your college in the industry circle:

What's better than hitting two aims with a single bullet? Yes, that is possible! You can organize field trips for the students from respective branches to visit the companies for a knowledge-oriented tour. This way, the students will learn what's going on in the Industry, spreading awareness about your college's brand at the same time.

Strategy #3:

Stay in touch with the Alumni:

What is an effective way to spread the word about your College?

THE ALUMNI. They are former students who have “been there and done that”. Make sure you've the updated database of the college's Alumni (especially the ones who re into Recruiting) and seek their help in bringing in New and reputed companies to the campus

Strategy #4:

Leverage LinkedIn:

LinkedIn is meant "to-make-connections". There are many recruiters out there on LinkedIn who are Interested in Campus recruitment solutions. All you've to do is to connect with them and communicate with them regarding either online campus recruitment or offline recruitment process.

This, if done consistently can result in a lot of good companies under your belt.

Strategy #5:

Online Job Portals are the hot trend these days. They have connections with a vast pool of Companies who are looking for campus placement for engineering students. Registering with a good online Job portal simply boosts your College's exposure to thousands of companies, improving the Placement percentage of your company exponentially.

9. How data analysis benefits an institution in placement?

By analyzing and using data effectively, institutions can predict the probability of enrollment based on demographic information, interests and more, and then make decisions or develop strategies accordingly. One way to do this is to use data analysis to find out the 'affinity scores' of those who made campus visits.

The benefits of data analysis can be enumerated as

Benefit 1.

Insights into student behaviour and performance

In the context of higher education, data analysis can provide universities a wealth of information about student demographics, academic performance, and engagement, among other things. For instance, universities can use data analysis to identify the academic performance of students in specific courses or programmes.

Benefit 2.

Improving student retention and identifying "at-risk" students

One of the main benefits of data analysis in higher education is its ability to improve student retention and graduation rates and to adopt a more proactive approach when it comes to student support.

Benefit 3.

Personalised learning and adaptive education

Another benefit of data analysis in higher education is its ability to support personalised learning and adaptive education.

Benefit 4.

Optimising course offerings

Data analysis can also help universities optimise their course offerings by identifying courses that are in high demand and courses that are not meeting student needs and need improving.

Benefit 5.

Improving teaching effectiveness

Data analysis can also help universities improve teaching effectiveness by providing insights into instructional practices and student learning outcomes.

Benefit 6.

Predicting student success

By analysing historical data on student performance, including grades, attendance, and demographic information, predictive models can be built to forecast student outcomes such as graduation rates, academic success, and retention rates.

Benefit 7.

Enhancing overall institutional performance

Data analysis can help universities enhance their institutional performance by providing insights into resource allocation, financial performance, and other key areas.

10. How forcasting can be made superior on the basis of data analysis?

With multiple businesses and organisations going digital in the past decade, the sheer amount of data generated every minute is astounding.

One industry that can benefit immensely from data-led insights is education. The sector has been slow and reluctant in shedding legacy systems and in adopting new-age technologies.

The five 5 steps of forecasting are as follows:

Step 1: Problem definition.
Step 2: Gathering information.
Step 3: Preliminary exploratory analysis.
Step 4: Choosing and fitting models.
Step 5: Using and evaluating a forecasting model.

How to Improve Your placement Forecasting

Use historical data.
Keep clean records.
Start with a simple model.
Implement a placement pipeline action plan.
Use forecasting tools.
Incorporate 'what ifs' and qualitative data.
Consider seasonality as a factor in placement forecasting.
Encourage collaboration between all departments.

11. What's forcasting tools are used to project the future trends?

Forecasting Techniques vary in their costs, as well as in scope and accuracy. The manager must fix the level of inaccuracy he or she can tolerate—in other words, decide how his or her decision will vary, depending on the range of accuracy of the forecast. This allows the forecaster to trade off cost against the value of accuracy in choosing a technique.

Time-series forecasting models is most suitable for forcasting future trends appropriately.

Time-series forecasting models — Examine past patterns in the data in order to predict future patterns. Examples of time-series models include:

straight-line method,

moving average,

exponential smoothing, and trend projection.

12. Conclusions

KPAs can cover a wide range of areas, and can differ significantly by organization and company. However, some experts suggest there are four KPAs that almost any business should understand and pay attention to:

Financials: These include basics like revenue, costs, net profits, and trends that affect all three.
Customer Satisfaction: How often do your customers complain about your business or products? What is your product return rate? What are the results of your customer satisfaction surveys?
Market Perception: How do customers and potential customers view your company or its products?
Productivity: Is your business accomplishing its overall goals? Is it meeting the everyday requirements to keep the company moving forward and keep its customers satisfied?

13. FAQs

Q. How important is the past in estimating the future?

Ans.: Significant changes in the system—new products, new competitive strategies, and so forth—diminish the similarity of past and future. Over the short term, recent changes are unlikely to cause overall patterns to alter, but over the long term their effects are likely to increase. The executive and the forecaster must discuss these fully.

Q. How can data analytics help universities?

Data analysis can help universities enhance their institutional performance by providing insights into resource allocation, financial performance, and other key areas.

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