Job Readiness Programme
College prepares students for the interview. Nobody prepares them for the Monday after.
A student can clear every round and still find the first month bewildering: documents to submit, a payslip that does not match the offer, a manager who gives instructions in one line, and no marking scheme. This session walks through the first weeks of a job, with working professionals and an HR person explaining what is normal and what is not.
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The gap between college and work is not knowledge. It is ambiguity.
In college, a problem arrives with a known answer and a marking scheme. At work, it arrives as a sentence in an email, and the fresher has to work out what is being asked, who to check with, and what good looks like. Most of the disorientation in a first job is this, not a technical shortfall.
Students also join without knowing the practical parts — the offer letter, the payslip, probation, leave, who to tell when something goes wrong. These are easy to explain in advance and expensive to learn by mistake.
What the first weeks involve
37 topics across 7 areas. Seven things every fresher meets.
Before You Sign: The Offer LetterA contract, read when excitement is highest.6
- CTC against the amount that reaches your account
- Fixed pay against variable pay
- Probation period, and what changes after it
- Notice period, during and after probation
- Any service agreement or training bond
- Joining date, location and conditions attached to the offer
A genuine employer never asks you to pay to receive, hold or process an offer.
Joining FormalitiesHave the paperwork ready before the first day.6
If an employer asks to keep original certificates, ask why, and get a written receipt for anything you hand over.
- Identity and address proof
- Degree certificate or provisional certificate, and marksheets
- PAN and a bank account in your own name
- Provident fund details, if you already have an account
- Consent for background verification
- Relieving letter, if you worked before
How a Team WorksThe structure nobody draws for you.5
- Who your manager is, and who reviews your work
- Whether you have a buddy or mentor
- How tasks are assigned and tracked
- The tools the team uses every day
- Who to ask about what
Before starting a task, write back one line saying what you understood it to be.
Probation and the First ReviewYou are being assessed on more than output.5
- Reliability: doing what you said you would
- Asking early rather than guessing for a week
- Taking correction well
- Learning speed
- Asking your manager what good looks like at ninety days
Time, Leave and ConductThe rules that are written down somewhere.5
- Working hours and how attendance is recorded
- How to apply for leave, and telling people before rather than after
- The code of conduct and IT policies
- Confidentiality of company and client information
- Workplaces with ten or more employees must have an Internal Committee for sexual harassment complaints: know who is on it
Your First PayslipWhy the number is smaller than you expected.5
- Basic pay and allowances
- Provident fund contribution
- Professional tax, where the state levies it
- Income tax deducted at source
- Keeping payslips and offer documents safely
Mistakes, Pressure, and When Something Is WrongEveryone makes mistakes. Hiding them is the problem.5
- Telling your manager quickly, with what you know
- Proposing a fix if you have one
- Recognising workload that is becoming unmanageable
- Raising a concern with a manager or HR
- Keeping copies of the offer, payslips and important emails
A first-week checklist
- Documents ready and copied
- Bank account and PAN details correct
- Manager, buddy and HR contact noted
- Leave and attendance rules read
- First task understood and confirmed in writing
Questions to ask in the first fortnight
- What should I have learned by the end of the first month?
- How will my work be reviewed?
- Who should I ask when you are not available?
- What does a good first ninety days look like here?
- What mistakes do new joiners usually make?
How the session runs
A working professional with a few years' experience and an HR person take students through a first job in order: the offer, joining, the first week, the first month and the first review. Students handle a sample offer letter and a sample payslip with made-up figures, and work out what each line means. Questions are taken throughout, including the awkward ones about pay and leaving. Neither speaker may recruit for their own employer or sell anything during the session.
What your students leave with
- The parts of an offer letter to read before signing
- A list of the documents joining usually needs
- A working picture of how a team assigns and reviews work
- What probation is, and what is being assessed during it
- How to read a payslip and its deductions
- What to do after a mistake, and where to go if something is wrong
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
The first job is where students learn how work works. They can start it knowing more.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.