Informal Feedback from HR Head, TCS Lucknow on T&P

I visited the Lucknow offices of my company, Tata Consultancy Services, on July 10th, 2009. Besides taking care of the company business, I made it a point to secure a one hour slot with Mr. Himanshu Kumar, HR Head for TCS Lucknow, in an effort to get a first hand viewpoint about our college based on his interactions and placement related dealings with the college administration.

The overall feedback from Himanshu on the quality of interactions with MMMEC was positive. The calibre of the students hired from MMMEC was also slightly above average in his viewpoint, if not among the top band compared to ~40 other colleges where he does recruiting from. He spoke highly of the hospitality accorded to TCS staff during campus visits and the preferential treatment given to TCS during the campus placement cycle by the college.

However, he did mention couple improvement opportunities - one each for administration and the students. His first advice was for the administration to take a bit more initiative towards a pro-active approach regards continuous engagement with the company and not be just placement focused. He also thought that the T&P cell should become a bit more marketing savvy - in terms of the quality of marketing collateral, aggressiveness of the personnel, etc.

His other advice was for students to seriously work towards their communication skills and assertiveness while in the college. He felt that despite being very sound on the technical fundamentals, our students do not come across as confident and articulate enough to put forward their viewpoint assertively.

I sincerely thanks Himanshu for devoting an hour from his busy schedule and his willingness to provide me with a "non sugar coated" feedback about the college. I hope that the administration and the students both act upon this constructive feedback and improve our performance and perception in the minds of all the prospective employers like Himanshu.