Today it provides the right interface between the students and the industry. In fact, in the last four years, ie, when the first set of students became eligible for PP, over 5,000 GNIIT students have been employed by different companies. Over 3,000 students are doing their PP across 1,000 organisations including some overseas companies.

Says Sanjay Sharma, Chief Executive, Tata Interactive, ``We have taken in 20 students this year and have absorbed 10 as our permanent employees. NIIT does the selection for us and we have been able to get some bright chaps.''Pioneers in multimedia and web solutions, the students training with the company getcompensation ranging between Rs 6,000 and Rs 7,000 per month and on being confirmed these software engineers get paid Rs 10,000 upwards.

Under PP, you are sent to an organisation to gain one year of valuable work experience for which you may be remunerated by your employer. PP is one of the three components of GNIIT (a three-year course), the other two being a three-year Bachelor's Degree from any university and the first two years of the GNIIT Programme (with a minimum aggregate of 50 per cent at the end of the first two years).

PP refers to the last one year of GNIIT where the student is placed with an organisation in the IT industry. Thus, as a GNIIT student of NIIT, PP is an entry point to the industry even before you seek employment. It is therefore a real-world experience while you are still a student.

For PP period of one year, the normal recruitment process is not followed.

In this case, the industry collaboration division of NIIT understands the exact requirements of people as desired by theenterprises in terms of qualifications, skills and other attributes. Then, based on the profile of the students available, the suitable candidates are shortlisted. Later the student is briefed on his/her organisation, nature of assignment etc and introduced to the organisation. This procedure is called the `matching process'.

Interestingly, the PP students do not meet their prospective employers and vice versa. There is no interview prior to the start of PP. After the PP period, in most cases the employers put them through their normal recruitment process or make the offer based on the performance during PP.

Based on the current students' job profile, there are 35 per cent of them in software development, 25 per cent in training assignments, 8-10 per cent in customer support, 8 per cent in marketing, 20 per cent in MIS-EDP operations.During PP, the nature of the assignment is varied as the objective is to get a real life exposure to groom oneself into a a complete professional.

Says H R Shenoy, Manager,Information Systems, Larsen & Toubro, ``We believe in giving these students more industry exposure thus making them ready for the market.'' L&T has employed 10 students from PP this year with a monthly stipend of Rs 2,500. Adds Shenoy, ``Students are made to use the languages learnt to develop application software to cater to our needs. They even have the freedom to learn beyond their working hours.''

The one year of PP is divided into two, six-month semesters. At the end of each semester you receive a grade. During the two semesters, apart from being assigned work by the PP organisation, you are guided by a mentor from the organisation and by the NIIT faculty. You are then evaluated and given points on the following attributes: Ability to adapt, analytical ability, documentation skills, verbal communication, customer focus, planning ability, cooperation, initiative, learning, image and confidence.

NIIT is in touch with the organisation regarding your progress and awards you a final grade on yourperformance, which is a higher title of ANIIT.

Claims Dr S N Uma, Divisional Manager-Industry Collaboration, NIIT, ``The PP students are evaluated in a structured manner both by the organisation represented by the mentor (the immediate supervisor of the student) and by the NIIT coordinator, which results in a unique learning that is sustained and gives real life experience on real projects under real deadlines.

Also the student gains feedback on professional development through non-technical seminars and a regular feedback on 10 major attributes, like, sense of responsibility, dress sense and presentability, initiative talking ability, communication skills etc.''

Today a host of companies in the IT industry are willing to take on PP students with a stipend. Blue Chip Organisations like L&T, Mahindra British Telecom, Tata Interactive, Mafatlal Consultancy Services and Hewlett Packard are some companies who have been willing to give students a chance to experience the `real world situation'.