Don’t write dept ranks in CVs for placement: IIT to students
Times of India | 7 September 2025
Kolkata: IIT Kharagpur has instructed its students not to mention their departmental ranks on their CV for the placement season and to stick to presenting their CGPA only.
The aim, said an official, was to stop unnecessary pressure on students and discrimination.
The placement season is slated for Dec.
This initiative is part of the broader efforts to redesign and revamp the Career Development Centre (CDC) under the leadership of mechanical engineering professor Sanjay Gupta, the new CDC chairman since Aug. An official pointed out that as the institute's academic section and ERP system did not declare departmental ranks for students across all departments, it was inappropriate to consider such ranks for the CDC placement season.
Recruiters will have to assess students based on their CGPA, if necessary.
IIT Kharagpur director Suman Chakraborty said, "We don't officially give ranks. If a company does not ask for ranks specifically, there is no logical reason to provide one in grade-based evaluations. Writing departmental ranks on CVs often led to discrimination as some students, who had the ranks, got advantage and the rest were marginalized.
There is no need for such a practice that promotes discrimination and causes frustration.
Someone with an outstanding academic performance can showcase it with a separate certification."
A professor said some students would figure out departmental ranks, based on their CGPA and write them in their CVs. "Some would even mention their JEE Advanced ranks, hoping to get an advantage during recruitment. But the very purpose of JEE ranks ends with IIT admissions," he said.
While many students appreciated the move, pointing out it would stop "profiling of students and potentially reduce bias in the recruitment process", some wrote to the IIT authorities, urging they be allowed to write their departmental ranks in CVs.
But a senior professor, in support of the new norm, pointed out emphasis on ranks translated into pressure on students. The professor said, "Students are becoming ‘competitors' instead of classmates and friends, the driving force being high-salaried jobs.
Ranks lead to stress and pressure. Students' career prospects should depend on academic records, acquired knowledge and skill sets, not ranks. The new move is aimed at promoting fairness.
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An official shared the CDC was highlighting "the importance of balancing salary package, professional fulfilment and sustainable career growth. "Focus on core engineering jobs, along with non-core ones, are being renewed," he added.