How to get hired
Pick your route by the end of the seventh semester if you can, because each one has its own calendar and its own test.
IT services and software
IT services companies hire engineers from every branch, not just CSE and IT, through campus, national hiring tests and off-campus drives. The test is usually aptitude, verbal, logical reasoning and a coding round in a language of your choice; the interview checks whether you really wrote the projects on your resume. Mechanical, civil and electrical graduates get through this route every year, but only with real coding practice: one language done properly (Java, Python or C++), basic SQL, and two small projects you can explain line by line. Product companies and startups hire fewer freshers and lean harder on proof: a GitHub profile with commits over months, a deployed project, competitive programming ratings. For where drives are announced and how shortlists work, read off-campus drives; for the software side in detail, software fresher jobs.
Core jobs: GET and trainee engineer programmes
Manufacturers, EPC contractors, power and process companies take freshers as "Graduate Engineer Trainee", "Trainee Engineer" or "Associate Engineer". The test is your branch fundamentals (strength of materials and thermodynamics for mechanical, machines and power systems for electrical, and so on), often followed by a technical interview that goes deep on your final-year project and an HR round about relocation. Expect a plant or site posting, shift work in the first year, and frequently a service agreement. Our branch guides cover the detail: mechanical, civil, electrical, electronics.
PSUs through GATE
Several central public sector companies shortlist engineers for executive trainee posts using GATE scores, then run a group discussion or task and an interview. GATE is held once a year in February; for 2027 it is organised by IIT Madras, with exam weeks on 6–7, 13–14 and 20–21 February and results on 19 March 2027. Each PSU publishes its own notice, with its own branch list and cut-off, after GATE, so read each notice rather than a coaching site's summary. A good score helps with M.Tech admissions too, which makes a GATE year less risky than it looks. It is still a year: decide in advance how long you will try.
NATS graduate apprenticeship
If you are within five years of passing, you can register on the NATS portal and apply for one-year graduate apprenticeships at PSUs, manufacturers and service companies. The minimum stipend for graduate apprentices was raised from ₹9,000 to ₹12,300 a month by the Apprenticeship (Amendment) Rules, 2025; confirm the figure in the notice you apply to. It is the most underused route for engineers from smaller colleges, because it puts a recognised company on your resume and many establishments absorb some apprentices at the end.
What to carry
Degree certificate or provisional certificate, all semester marksheets, 10th and 12th marksheets, a consolidated CGPA-to-percentage conversion from your college, Aadhaar, PAN, and a one-page resume with project links. Many test platforms reject candidates with active backlogs, so clear them before you apply.
Bonds, training and the first year
Service agreements are common in engineering fresher offers: you agree to stay a set period, often one to three years, or pay a stated amount if you leave early. A bond cannot stop you from working elsewhere, but an employer can try to recover the amount it names, and how much is recoverable depends on what is reasonable for the training actually given. Read the amount, whether it reduces month by month, and whether the company keeps original certificates (decline that). Our article on job bonds explains what to check.
Pay jumps for engineers usually come at the first switch, after 18 to 24 months, not at the first appraisal. Use the first job to get one skill that the market names in job posts: a cloud certification, SAP, PLC programming, a design tool, a testing framework.