You got the job. Then it vanished: Is a campus offer still a job?
For a college student, getting a campus offer can feel like a weight being lifted off their shoulders. After months of classes, exams, applications and interviews, there is finally a moment when the uncertainty seems to end. You see your name on the selection list, accept the offer and start making plans around the job: where you will live, when you will move, what your first salary might look like and what comes next after graduation.
But for some students, that certainty has not lasted.
In recent months, students at some of India's leading campuses have seen job offers withdrawn, joining dates pushed back or employment plans left uncertain even after clearing recruitment. In some cases, students had already stopped looking for other jobs because they believed they had one.
The issue has now prompted an unusually strong response from India's IITs. The All IITs Placement Committee has decided to stop cooperating with 22 companies for the next two placement seasons after more than 150 offers made to students graduating in 2026 went unhonoured across 23 IITs. Oracle is among the companies facing the restriction.
The move puts the spotlight on a question that goes beyond these companies or the students affected this year: when a company selects a student through campus placements, how certain is that job actually? Selected, offered, waiting: Why a campus job can still feel uncertain (AI generated image) THE OFFER WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE FINISH LINE. NOW IT CAN BE ANOTHER WAITING POINT
The scale of the IIT episode makes the issue difficult to ignore.
More than 150 offers across 23 IITs went unhonoured, with some companies withdrawing 10 to 15 offers each. Around 40 of the unhonoured offers were reportedly linked to Oracle. Placement offices circulated the CVs of affected students among existing recruiters.
As reported by The Economic Times, IIT-Guwahati Associate Professor and All IITs Placement Committee convenor John Jose said around 20% to 30% of affected students had found jobs through such cross-referrals, although there was no complete count of students still seeking employment.
For students, the problem is not simply that a job disappeared. A campus offer can influence what they do next. Once selected, a student may stop applying elsewhere, decline another opportunity or plan a move to another city around the expected joining date.
That becomes particularly significant under one-student-one-offer systems. At IIT Madras, for instance, students selected by a company are deregistered from its placement website.
The system works on the assumption that an accepted offer is a reasonably stable endpoint. When that offer disappears, the student may find that the safety net of the placement process has disappeared with it.
Oracle has become one of the clearest examples of this uncertainty. In May, Oracle had revoked campus placement offers across several IITs and NITs. One affected student, NIT Warangal's Aditya Kumar Barawal, said his pre-placement offer had been revoked amid internal restructuring and headcount-related changes. The case became more complicated for students who had already committed to the offer. Selected, offered, waiting: Why a campus job can still feel uncertain (AI generated image)
In August, the case of Tejasw Agrawal came to light, whose Oracle pre-placement offer was revoked in May and offered again in July, with August 18 set as his joining date. He completed documentation and joining formalities and booked flight tickets to relocate. Five days before the scheduled joining date, he said the offer was revoked again.
These cases also show why a withdrawn offer and delayed onboarding are not exactly the same problem. In one case, the job disappears. In the other, the job may still exist but the student is left waiting. For both, the uncertainty comes after the student has already made decisions based on the expected employment.
It would be easy to read these cases as evidence that campus placements themselves are falling apart. The broader data does not support such a simple conclusion.InstitutePlacement season / batchWhat the data coversPlacement figuresIIT Kanpur2025–26 graduating batchPhase I campus placements, including Pre-Placement Offers (PPOs)1,202 offers were made by more than 250 organisations; 1,079 offers were accepted. Phase II was scheduled to begin in January 2026.IIT Delhi2025–26 placement seasonOffers secured by students by December 2025, including PPOs1,275 offers were secured, including more than 300 PPOs; over 1,140 individual students were placed by December 2025. The placement season was scheduled to continue until the end of May 2026.IIT Bombay2024–25 placement seasonAccepted job offers during the placement season1,422 offers were accepted out of 2,040 participating students.IIM Bangalore2026 final and lateral placementsFinal and lateral placement process for the graduating management batch664 offers were made for 596 students.
The more complicated shift is happening after selection. A student can be counted among those placed while still facing uncertainty over when, or whether, the employment will actually begin.
The Oracle episode is part of a wider pattern of uncertainty around onboarding. In March, that more than 1,000 engineering graduates from the 2025 batch were waiting to join Tech Mahindra after clearing its recruitment process. The company said offer letters were being rolled out in batches based on business demand. Selected, offered, waiting: Why a campus job can still feel uncertain (AI generated image)
The longer that gap becomes, the more difficult it can be for a graduate to plan the next stage of life. A student waiting months for a joining date may find it difficult to know whether to keep applying, take another job, pursue higher studies or simply continue waiting.
IF THE OFFER DISAPPEARS, THE PLACEMENT SYSTEM NEEDS A SECOND CHANCEThe IIT response shows that placement offices may need to step in even after recruitment ends. After the unhonoured offers, teams circulated affected students’ CVs among other recruiters, while the IITs decided to stop cooperating with 22 companies.Institutions could also build stronger safeguards, including clearer offer terms, joining timelines and a formal route back into recruitment if an accepted offer is withdrawn. Companies, meanwhile, can communicate earlier when onboarding depends on business requirements, giving students more time to consider alternatives. Selected, offered, waiting: Why a campus job can still feel uncertain (AI generated image)
A CAMPUS OFFER STILL MATTERS. BUT "PLACED" MAY NO LONGER MEAN "STARTING SOON"
The recent cases do not show that campus placements have stopped working. IITs and IIMs continue to report substantial recruiter participation and large numbers of offers.
What they do show is that the word "placed" can conceal several stages: selection, offer, acceptance, documentation, joining date and finally, the first day at work.
The campus offer once largely connected these stages in students' minds. Recent withdrawals and onboarding delays show that the links between them can be less certain.
That does not make a campus offer meaningless. It makes the period between receiving it and actually joining increasingly important.
The larger issue, then, is not simply whether a student has been placed, but how reliably that placement carries them from selection to an actual first day at work.- EndsREAD | Worried about AI taking your first job? These 26 degrees rank lowest for exposure
Fictional worlds, caffeine, good food, and great fashion are some of my favourite things. Hi, I'm Karan—nice to meet you.
Professionally, I tell stories that inform, inspire, and make education more accessible. When I'm not writing, you'll probably find me buried in a book, exploring a new café, planning my next trip, or debating fashion trends and food recommendations with friends.
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