A small company can run a campus recruitment drive with one coordinator by limiting it to one or two roles, two to four colleges and a virtual or pooled format. Agree the registration rules, format, date, offer route and deadline with each placement cell, then run one selection day with a short task and an interview. Use the six-week example below after checking the college’s calendar.
Updated 31 October 2026. College rules and platform allowances were checked on each college’s and platform’s own pages on that date.
Should a small company run a campus drive at all?
Yes, if you are hiring several freshers into the same entry-level role, can wait for a joining month and have someone available to train and supervise the joiners. Use direct hiring for an urgent vacancy; postpone the drive if nobody can coordinate it.
| Your situation | Run a drive? | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Several freshers for one entry-level role, joining in a few months | Yes | Choose two to four colleges and ask for a virtual or pooled date |
| One urgent hire | No | Post the role on free sites and shortlist from the applicants (free job posting sites) |
| A role that needs years of experience | No | Use a separate hiring process for roles that require substantial work experience |
| Nobody has a few hours a week for six weeks | Not yet | Post the role now and plan a drive for the next cycle |
For the full drive process from planning to joining, read the campus recruitment process for companies.
Which drive format suits a small team?
Choose a virtual drive to avoid travel. Choose a pooled drive to bring applicants from several colleges into one event; a pooled drive can also run online. If a college accepts neither, an off-campus posting reaches its students without a drive. Sources and platform allowances below were checked as of 31 October 2026.
| Format | How it works | What it asks of a small team |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual drive | The talk, task and interviews run on a video link on a date the college fixes. Ask the college first whether it accepts online drives. | A stable connection, a backup link and two or three people on the day. No travel. |
| Pooled drive | Students from neighbouring colleges join one event. Adi Shankara’s published placement process describes hosting a drive with individual or pool campus status. | One selection day, but a merged student list to check before it. |
| One-college drive on campus | You visit one college for a talk, a task and interviews. | Travel, a room booking and a day out of the office. A nearby college can keep travel and coordination manageable for a first drive. |
| Off-campus posting | Students apply to a posted role. On LineupX, a placement team shares the role with the right students. Internshala’s terms allow India-based employers one free internship or job listing a month, and its posting page says you can see the first 20 applications. | No college drive date to secure; allow for the posting service’s review process. Applicants may come from colleges you did not email. |
| Internship first | You take interns for a fixed period and decide on a full-time offer at the end. Explain the conversion criteria and decision date before the internship starts. On the AICTE internship portal, employers register and declare that they will not charge students any fee for internships offered through the portal. | A mentor and a stipend. An internship delays the full-time hiring decision and needs supervision throughout. |
Every college sets its own rules on formats and dates, so ask in your first email. Use these placement-cell outreach and confirmation email templates.
How do I choose which colleges to approach?
Check three things before you email a college: the course and graduation batch (ask for sample relevant student projects if it can share them), whether your pay, place and joining month suit its students, and whether it can offer the format and date you need. Shortlist two to four colleges whose courses, student expectations and available dates fit the role.
Example: a fictional Indore agency hiring trainee digital marketing executives, a role that needs writing, customer understanding and spreadsheet work. It asks for a commerce, management or similar degree, and tests those skills in its task. The colleges are fictional.
Swipe sideways to see every column.
| College | Course and batch | Skills and relocation | Format and date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commerce college, Indore | BCom, 2027 batch: course fits | Local; check writing and spreadsheet skills | Online date offered: fits |
| Management college, Indore | BBA, 2027 batch: course fits; confirm essential skills | Local; ask whether [₹ fixed per year] suits its students | Pooled date possible: ask |
| Engineering college, Pune | Different degree: check relevant writing and spreadsheet skills | Confirm willingness to relocate to Indore | Ask which formats and dates it offers |
For where to find colleges beyond the best-known names, read how to hire from tier 2 and tier 3 colleges.
What does a six-week campus drive plan look like?
Spend weeks 1 and 2 on the brief and the colleges, weeks 3 and 4 on dates and registration, week 5 on the selection day and offers, and week 6 on acceptances and joining preparation.
Example: an 18-person digital marketing agency in Indore wants four trainee digital marketing executives who can join after final exams. This example uses one coordinator and two interviewers on selection day: its operations manager coordinates, and the founder and a team lead interview. The table shows the plan it would follow.
| Week | What you do | You finish the week with |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Write the one-page brief below. Name the coordinator and two interviewers. Choose the format. | A job description and approved compensation terms to share consistently with colleges and candidates |
| Week 2 | Choose the colleges using the three checks above. Find each college’s training and placement officer’s (TPO’s) email on the college site. Send the first email with the job description attached. | A tracker with one row per college |
| Week 3 | Follow up by email, then once by phone. Fill in each college’s form. Agree the date, the format, any fee, and the offer route and deadline in writing. | Dates, forms and offer rules confirmed |
| Week 4 | Ask for the registered student list with candidate name, college, course, graduation batch, eligibility confirmation and interview slot. For a pooled drive, agree who consolidates and de-duplicates the registrations. Book the company talk, send students the task rules and brief the interviewers. | A student list and a task ready to run |
| Week 5 | Run the selection day: talk, task, interviews. Send the selected and reserve lists at the agreed time. Issue offers by the agreed deadline. | Offers issued and a reserve list |
| Week 6 | Track acceptances. Move to the reserve list after withdrawals. Start the pre-joining plan. | Acceptances tracked and a joining plan |
ONE-PAGE HIRING BRIEF (send the same page to every college) Company name: [name] What the company does: [one line] Website: [link] Role: [title] Vacancies: [number] Eligible courses: [list] Graduation batch: [year] Backlog rule: [rule, or none] Essential skills: [list] Fixed annual salary in rupees: [amount] Total annual CTC in lakhs: [amount] LPA Variable pay and conditions: [details] Internship duration, if applicable: [duration] Internship stipend, if applicable: [₹ per month] PPO criteria and decision date, if applicable: [details] Location: [city] Work mode: [on site / hybrid / remote] Joining month: [month, year] Company talk: [date, time] Task: [date, time] Interviews: [date, time]
Confirm college availability before committing to the six-week schedule. Placement calendars are set by each college, and some are fixed months ahead. If no date is open, post the role now and start the plan again for the next cycle.
What should a campus drive checklist include?
One coordinator can organise the drive; arrange interview support so scheduling and candidate queries remain covered. Work through the list in order.
BEFORE THE DAY [ ] Date, time, room or video link, offer route and deadline agreed with the college in writing [ ] Student list received two days ahead and checked against the college’s form [ ] Hiring brief ready to show on screen: role, compensation terms, joining month [ ] Task sheet and marking rubric ready; time limit written on the sheet [ ] Scoring rubric and pass threshold agreed before students attempt the task [ ] Ranking and tie rules agreed; maximum interview capacity and shortlist rule set before registration opened [ ] Two interviewers briefed: one question list, one score sheet each [ ] Backup ready: second video link or phone hotspot, charger, printed student list ON THE DAY [ ] Open with the talk: the job, the pay, the first-year work, the next steps [ ] Take attendance against the student list [ ] Run the task with a visible clock; collect every answer before marking [ ] Interview in order of task score, with the same questions for every student [ ] Each interviewer writes pass, hold or no, and one line of evidence [ ] Decide as soon as interviews end; write the selected list and a reserve list AFTER SELECTION: BY THE AGREED DEADLINE [ ] Send the selected and reserve lists to the placement office [ ] Issue offers THE SAME EVENING [ ] Note what went wrong, for the next drive
How should a small company structure the selection rounds?
Use three stages: a company briefing, a task based on the role and a structured interview. Decide the pass mark and the questions before the day; a pass mark set after you have seen the scores is hard to defend to the college, and to the students who just missed it. Before registration opens, agree the maximum interview capacity and how qualifying candidates will be shortlisted if more pass than you can interview. Before the drive, agree how task and interview results determine the final ranking, and how ties will be resolved.
| Stage | What happens | Time to plan |
|---|---|---|
| Company briefing | Explain the job, the pay, the first-year work and the selection steps. Take questions. | 15 to 20 minutes |
| Task | Students in the same slot complete the same task; use equivalent unseen versions for later slots. Mark it against a short rubric, or an answer key where the task has one. | 30 to 45 minutes |
| Interview | Ask the same questions in the same order and score each answer pass, hold or no. | 20 to 30 minutes each |
- Digital marketing trainee: use a fictional campaign sheet to identify which email produced the most enquiries, then write a five-line follow-up. Marked on spreadsheet accuracy, audience fit and the call to action.
- Junior accountant: match fifteen bank entries to fifteen ledger entries in a sheet and list the three that do not match. Marked against an answer key.
- Customer support associate: reply in about eighty words to a customer whose order arrived late and whose message is angry, using the order details you supply. Marked on acknowledgement, an accurate resolution and a realistic follow-up.
EXAMPLE RUBRIC: customer support reply (10 marks) Acknowledges the delay and apologises: 2 States the correct order status from the details supplied: 3 Offers a realistic next step with a date: 3 Clear, polite and about 80 words: 2 Pass mark: [number] out of 10, fixed before marking
Example: twelve interviews at twenty-five minutes each need five panel hours, before breaks and marking. Two interviewers can sit together on one panel to share scoring, or run two panels in parallel, which cuts the elapsed time to about two and a half hours.
Use a sample problem, not live client work. In the interview, ask candidates to explain their task decisions and a relevant college project. Confirm that they understand the working hours, location and pay, then leave time for their questions.
How can a company with no brand name get students to attend?
Show students the work, the pay and who will train them.
- Put one real task or product screen from the role on the first slide, with client details removed.
- Let the manager introduce themselves and describe what the first month looks like.
- Show the pay, the place and the joining month on the first slide, and make sure they match what the college circulated.
- Bring a recent joiner or intern for five minutes, if you have one.
How do offers and joining work for a small company?
Agree the offer route and deadline with each placement office before the drive, then follow them. Keep in touch until joining and give students a named contact for questions or changes to their plans.
- Ask each placement office how offers must be sent and by when. As of 31 October 2026, IIT Madras states that all offers go through its placement office and asks companies to release them within an hour after the recruitment process ends.
- Put the role, place, pay in rupees, joining date and a reply-by date in the letter. Templates: offer letter format, and for interns the internship offer letter format.
- Send letters by the agreed deadline. As of 31 October 2026, IITRAM’s page expects appointment letters within two weeks of the offer.
- Send a welcome note and a first-week plan a fortnight before joining.
- If a student withdraws, move to the reserve list that week and tell the college.
What should a small company budget for a campus drive?
Budget for your team’s time first, then for the few cash items. Work out the cost per joiner at the end, not the cost per offer.
- Your team’s time. Hours for the coordinator, two interviewers and the hiring manager across six weeks.
- College fee. Policies differ, so ask each college whether it charges recruiters before you plan.
- Travel and stay. Only for an on-campus visit: fares, a night’s stay and local transport.
- Tools. A video-call plan, a shared spreadsheet, a registration form and file sharing. Check whether free versions are enough.
- Assessment software. Optional. A paper or spreadsheet task still needs preparation, marking and any printing costs.
- Onboarding. Laptop, accounts, a mentor’s hours and first-month training for each joiner.
Cost per joiner = (cash costs + [hours spent] x [₹ value of one hour of your team’s time]) / students who joined If nobody joins, record the total spend and zero joiners; cost per joiner cannot yet be calculated. AFTER THE DRIVE, ONE BLOCK PER COLLEGE College: [name] Registered: [n] Attended: [n] Shortlisted: [n] Offered: [n] Accepted: [n] Joined: [n] Early manager review of joiners (for example at 90 days): [note] Cost per joiner for this college: [₹]
For college-level costs, allocate shared drive costs consistently, for example by attendance, and record the method. Review these counts alongside task scores and early performance before choosing colleges for the next drive. To compare with posting jobs online, see the cheapest way to hire freshers in India.
What mistakes do small companies make on a first drive?
Keep the first drive focused, name a coordinator and confirm the terms before inviting applications.
- Too many roles at once. Each additional role needs suitable selection criteria and interviewer preparation. Start with one or two.
- No named coordinator. Name one person to confirm dates, answer placement-cell queries and update the tracker.
- Booking a venue or a flight before the date is confirmed in writing. A college can move a date.
- Changing the pay between the first email and the offer. Students applied, and the college promoted the role, on the basis of the pay you originally stated.
- Interviewing without notes. A one-line reason per student makes decisions easy to explain.
Can a company with no office run a campus drive?
Yes, if the college accepts an online drive. Give the college your registered company name, website and a named contact so it can check who you are. Run the talk, task and interviews on a video link, and send the lists at the agreed time.
What if only a few students register for my drive?
Ask the placement cell to confirm registrations two days ahead and to remind students. You can also post the role on a free platform so students from other colleges can apply. Keep the assessment criteria unchanged even if turnout is lower than expected.
Can a college refuse a small company?
Yes. A placement cell decides which companies it hosts and when, and the reason may be its calendar, the role or the pay. Ask for the reason and for the date when you can write again. Meanwhile, use an off-campus posting.
What if more students pass than we have vacancies?
Rank candidates using the scoring and tie-break rules agreed before selection. Offer the approved number of places and agree a reserve list with the placement cell. Tell reserve candidates that a place is not guaranteed.
What should I do if the placement cell changes the confirmed date?
Ask for the new date in writing, then check it against your interviewers’ diaries, your venue or video booking and your joining plan. Tell any students you have already invited. If the new date does not work, ask whether a different format or a pooled date is possible.
How do I handle students who cannot attend the online slot?
Ask the placement office to arrange another slot. Use an unseen task of comparable difficulty, scored against the same rubric and pass threshold. Keep a record of who was offered which slot, and do not mark down a student for a clash the college created.