CA Campus placements offer the best of offers from Top firms, but it can't be relied on just because
They provide placements to just 20% of the candidate, and
You can appear for just 4 companies in Campus Interviews.
So, you're left with just Off Campus job interviews. You need to develop the right mindset to nail them.
TIME LINE
Just after the Results - Attend your GMCS. Start appearing for Off-Campus job interviews. Try to get an offer in hand before sitting for the Final Campus Interviews. This would give you a backup option in case, you don't get an offer in
1 month after the Results - Small City Campus - Attend them to gain some Interview Experience.
In Between - Keep appearing for more Off-Campus Interviews.
2 months after the Results - Big City Campus - Try to have an offer in hand, so that you can leverage this in your interviews, and you will also be in a better position to reject a job offer from a Firm you don't want to work in. (The problem is if you ACCEPT an offer letter from one company in the Campus, you can't sit for another company again, even if the other company is better in all respects. Getting an offer off-campus can help you get rid of this dilliema)
After the Campus Interviews - If you don't have an offer now, follows the below mentioned strategy to get an Off-Campus Interview. It sucks to not have a desired job offer at that stage.
Sources of Off-Campus Interview
(This is not an Exhaustive list. I've tried to add everything with an example on the basis of what I experienced during the recruitment process. Try to research on it from other sources. This is on the basis of Relevance)
1. Direct Calls - There are some firms that would directly call you for an Interview. You have a equal chance of converting those offers. But the issues is, a LOT of candidates apply for this. You'll have face huge competition here.
For Instance, Goldman Sacs will be the first firm to call you once, your results are out. In 2016 Attempt, there were around 400 CAs who appeared for it's interview in Kolkata.
Make sure you're well informed regarding this company, because sometimes they might miss calling you, in that case you can even drop there for a Walk-In Interview by informing them beforehand.
2. Direct Applications - There are some firms, where you can apply directly, and most people get an Interview call. You can create a whatsapp group of all your Job Seekers, so that you're well informed about such opportunities.
For Instance - Wipro & Infosys allows everyone to sit for their off campus interviews provided you apply for them. ITC also posts it's vacancy in it's career page, anyone can apply in them.
To be informed about these opportunites you can :
Register yourself at various Job Portals like FastIndia, Naukri & CaJobPortal
Create a Whatsapp Group of the Job Seeker where you can share opportunities
Keep checking the Career Page of the companies which generally have vacancies for CA
3. Reference - A major chunk of CAs get hired in Big 4 through a Reference. Approach your seniors to refer you for a Job Opening in their team. (Mostly, they will be cooperative, because they're also going to earn a Referral Bonus.) Apart from Big 4s there are other firms also that interview candidates only through Referalls. Try to network, catch every neighbour, uncle, Sharmaji & senior who you think can help.
For Instance, Interviews of Ambuja Cements & ICICI got over in 2016, within the first month of Results. These both companies called candidates just through reference.
4. Recruitment Job Portals: There are few sites that post a lot of vacancies for CA. These are the best option to get a Off-Campus offer.
FastIndia - This is the most RELEVANT site for CA Vacancies. They post just a few opportunities, but each of them are relevant. Don't miss out to register in this site.
CaJobPortal - They post the largest number of vacancies for CAs. You don't want to miss them.
Naukri- Most of the jobs interview calls you'll get in the first few months through Naukri won't be relevant. But still create a profile, because who knows when you might get a relevant offer.
LinkedIn - If you use this site, effectively, you can extract a lot of good offers. Have an attractive Profile. Connect to a large number of people. If you're jobless, post the fact that you've this & this skills & you're looking for a job. Someone will definitely help you.
This is how I leveraged LinkedIn to look out for a Job Opening.
5. Other means
Sending Resumes through the Career Page of a Company. This has a low rate of conversion, but it's still worth it.
For Instance, I applied through the Career Page to around 50 Companies when they didn't even had a vacancy. 2 companies called me for an Interview. I got an offer from one of them, Gujarat Coke NRE.
A friend of mine downloaded a list of all Investment Banking firms in India. He went to their career page, and sent his resume to the company mailing handle. He received an Interview call from 1 company (i.e. Mape Advisory).
Cold Calling People - You can cold call a LinkedIn contact of yours to refer you to his firm. People won't generally mind that.
Saarkari Jobs - A lot of PSUs hire through Off-Campus route. You can apply in them. There are sites like SaarkariJob where you can keep track of it. The problem with these is that, most of the PSU Recruitment happens long after the Campus Interviews. And the entire PSU recruitment process takes atleast 2 months, with Written Test, GD & then Personal Interview.
PowerGrid hires CA at a Package of Rs. 18 Lacs Off Campus.
HUDCO also hires some CA through Off Campus Process.
Coal India (Rs. 10 Lacs) & BPCL (Rs. 16 Lacs) sometimes hire through Campus & Sometimes through Offcampus.
Decoding a Myth: Your CA Marks doesn't matter in the CA Interviews (unless you've a Rank). What matters is whether you passed it in the First Attempt & Whether you've the conceptual clarity.