First phase of campus recruitment in NUJS, Kolkata for the graduating batch of 2012, has marked a pleasant end. AZB & Partners, Amarchand & Mangaldas (Mumbai and Delhi), J. Sagar Associates, Trilegal, Bharucha & Partners and ICICI Bank were the recruiters who visited the campus.

Tuli & Co., Economic Law Practice, Luthra & Luthra, PRS Legislative Research were the firms which recruited through PPOs only and Majumdar & Co. was the only firm which conducted off-campus recruitment.

Among the International firms, Linklaters offered one training contract and CMS Cameron McKenna offered two training contracts and one more is set to materialize shortly. Herbert Smith and Clifford Chance confirmed their visits to campus this semester.

The strength of the outgoing batch is 95 and around 85-90 students attended the placement process, saving for certain factors like LLMs/Civil Service/Judicial Clerkship. In total, 41 students were recruited.

Recruitment statistics for NUJS are as follows:

The Bar & Bench team contacted the Campus Recruitment Committee (CRC) and some excerpts from the interview conducted with CRC members are as follows:

Bar & Bench: How many students were recruited through the campus recruitment, was there any PPOs?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator): Our strategy was to shift to a PPO based-approach to recruitment, in order to minimize loss of offers at the Day Zero stage. We took the necessary steps and ensured that the batch got the best opportunity to get recruited early. This resulted in 21 PPO offers being made across 6 firms and 1 NGO. Through campus recruitment, there have been 20 placements till date.

Bar & Bench: How different was the recruitment process as compared to last year?

Ashutosh Kumar (Joint Co-Ordinator): We were quick to realize that the future of recruitment lies in off-campus/PPO method, since the firms get an opportunity to see talent in action, and students get a feel of the workplace. Campus Placement usually sees firms and students vying to get the best deal possible, and an unfortunate by-product of this is some degree of lost jobs. Firms go back dissatisfied, and some great students are left heart-broken. 

We have largely succeeded in rectifying this anomaly, and have seen the lowest job loss so far. We would like to thank the firms for being understanding and appreciating our efforts in this regard.

Bar & Bench: What were the difficulties faced in the recruitment process?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator):  There have been no difficulties as such. We have received fantastic support from all the firms we have interacted with. I see a successful placement season ahead.

Bar & Bench: Has the competition become tougher? Particularly considering the fact of early recruitment in other NLU's?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator): With time, increase in competition is an obvious factor for us to consider. Despite this, an early recruitment season in NLSIU/NALSAR did not have much of a bearing, since we were anticipating such a move. As can be seen, their haste had no impact on our figures.

We wanted to fully capitalize on our long summer vacation and strategized accordingly from October, 2010. This move resulted in most of the students interning at the firm of their choice, widening the catchment area for the CRC. This has manifested itself in the number of recruiters that visited campus within just 2-3 weeks of the final year starting.

Bar & Bench: Do you follow any strategies to attract recruiters to your institution?

Kumar Kislay (Member, CRC):  There is no strategy we follow per se, but practice complete honesty with all recruiters of all scale. It has helped build tremendous credibility over the last 1 year with firms. We attribute our success to that.

Bar & Bench: Are the students given any pre-recruitment training by the Placement Cell of your College?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator): The students are not given any formal pre-recruitment training by the CRC at NUJS. We believe the firms should be able to assess the candidates for who they truly are, rather than their coached personas. 

Bar & Bench: Do you follow up on the performance of the students after they join the firms? Has there been any negative report?

Shruti Jere (Member, CRC): No, the CRC does not follow-up on the performance of the students after they join the firms. Our sole mandate is to facilitate job offers for interested candidates. 

Keeping in view the interest shown by an ever-increasing number of firms and companies, we can say with conviction that they have had excellent experience with our seniors. 

We would like to acknowledge our alumni, who have always stood by us and on whom we have often called upon for guidance.

Bar & Bench:  What is the success secret of your students getting hired in such huge numbers?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator): Recruiters see valuable skills and talent in the students of NUJS, year after year. Being amongst the top National Law Schools does give us a relative head-start, but it also carries the weight of expectations. The CRC is very glad to note that students across all ranks have been hired by some of the most notable law firms this year, far exceeding what we expected. 

We strove to make sure each student wanted the job profile he was selected for and our internship-based recruitment was a major step in that direction. This minimized the incompatibility and made selections easier for firms. Diversity across jobs and practice areas is what the Batch has demanded and we are arranging for the same.

Also, the CRC has been given utmost freedom to pursue a course of action that is collectively deemed beneficial to the batch. This dramatically cuts our response time and gives us fantastic flexibility in crunch situations.

Bar & Bench: What makes CRC different from others when it comes to the way things are conducted?

Ankit Thakur (Coordinator): We would not like to gloat over our initial glories and are only sharing our experiences so far. For all practical purposes, we still have some way to go.

We understand that comparisons will be made with similarly placed law schools, but we at the CRC would be satisfied only when each student gets the job of his/her choice, rather than allowing them to follow the herd.

Ashutosh (Joint Co-Ordinator): NUJS has had a history of encouraging enterprise amongst its students, where interest is far more important than the cheque you carry home at the end of the month and it’s a trend that the CRC shall not deviate from.