How can I prepare myself for joining a placement cell in my new B-School? What are the interview questions and projects that can help me sharpen my rough edges?

there is nothing specific required as such. If you intend to interview the junior batch, you would need to be good with your specialization but that’s about it. End of the day, it is as much a learning process as it is a decision making process. Nobody is perfect when they get into the placement committee but people gradually find a way to figure things out.

Without divulging too many intimate details (which would make the process less fun), I can share a few things that are required to be a placement committee member at least at a good b-school in which case, there is little to no hand holding by the faculty/advisors/conveners:

  1. Perception management: Irrespective of whether it is a selection process or an election process, it completely boils down to your perception among your batch and your seniors. The most minor of offences (assignment blunders, general casualness, misplaced intentions, selfishness, extreme ambition, an offhand remark and so on) might have a snowball effect on your candidature. Being liked and to a degree respected will go a long way in strengthening your candidature (plus it will help you with assignments, presentations, quizzes and in some cases even attendance)
  2. Selflessness: As far as CV points go, to be absolutely brutal, this is one of the most influential lines that one can write on one’s CV. Companies prefer placement committee members because they can get work done, are good at communicating/haggling at times and are popular, in general. But you get all these after you have put in months of effort running behind HRs, alumni and other influential decision makers across organizations. If you are selfless and are someone who thinks of the larger picture, you should do fine. If you have an average profile and are doing it purely for the CV point, it might hurt your chances at the interview table; if you have a fantastic profile and don’t have any space on your CV, you might feel a little less inclined towards taking it up. So, invariably the people who get into placement committees are the ones who are actively looking at it as a challenge, are good at the qualities mentioned and want to make their b-school stay memorable
  3. Planning: The process ensures that one is organized and has a strategic bent of mind. This is particularly important because placement work at an institute is carried out with absolute secrecy and so, one cannot solicit someone for external advice or assistance when it comes to the core functions. If you are unable to keep track of your accounts and are not able to function independently, you will struggle
  4. Thinking on your feet: In case of selections (interviews), the aspirants are subjected to hypothetical situations and make believe cases which tests persistence, impartial nature and general decision making process. If you interact with seniors from your institute, they will be able to guide you about the scenarios that you need to prepare for
  5. Communication: Needless to say, you should possess good written and oral communication skills. You will be interacting with people who are high up in the organization chain and if you struggle with basic interactions, it might not really be a pleasant experience
  6. Unbiased: At FMS, we used to go to great lengths to ensure that we were not influenced by our juniors in any way and that we had an objective perception instead of the popular one. If you can stand up to people and tell them that you won’t let personal ties interfere with your job, you should do well for the entire batch and not just for a few individuals

At a generic level, the questions would be along these lines:

a. Why do you want to join the placement committee? Why should you be chosen over the other applicants? Do you have any prior experience handling accounts and clients? Have you been a part of any placement committee before?

b. Is if for your personal benefit? What would you do if you don’t make it to the placement committee?

c. Is it for the benefit of the institute? If so, how?

d. How are you going to better the existing process?

e. Your weaknesses/strengths

f. Perception in the batch

g. Cases involving stakeholders in desperate situations: Companies not coming to campus, students not being happy about something, general blunders during associated tasks and so on