Web-Based Placement Workflow Management System Using MERN Stack

Abstract

The rapid growth of higher education institutions has increased the need for efficient placement management systems that streamline the recruitment process. Traditional placement processes are often manual, time-consuming, and prone to errors, creating challenges for both students and training and placement officers (TPOs). To address these issues, this project proposes a Placement Management System developed using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js). The system provides role-based authentication for Admins, Students, Placement Coordinators, and TPOs, ensuring smooth interaction and transparency in the placement process. Features include company management, student registration, application status tracking, department-wise and section-wise allocation, and eligibility filtering. The system improves efficiency by supporting bulk data uploads, real-time updates, and export options for analysis. This solution significantly reduces administrative workload and enhances accessibility for students and recruiters.

Introduction

• Efficient campus placement is vital for student careers and institutional reputation.

• Traditional placement processes (manual records, spreadsheets, emails) are fragmented and inefficient.

• Modern web-based Placement Management Systems (PMS) offer centralized, scalable, and secure platforms.

• The proposed PMS is developed using the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) and includes role-based workflows for:

  • Admins (system oversight)

  • Training & Placement Officers (TPOs) (department-level operations)

  • Placement Coordinators (section-level company allocation)

  • Students (view/apply for drives)

2. Literature Review

• Existing Systems Reviewed:

  • MoinMN's College PMS: Role-based system using MERN but lacks department-specific workflows.

  • emmannweb's Job Portal: Comprehensive UI and analytics, but generic (not tailored for academic environments).

  • Other studies: Highlighted issues with manual coordination, weak authentication, and missing audit trails.

• Common Limitations:

  • No support for section- or department-level operations.

  • Lack of auditing and secure role isolation.

  • Limited analytics and eligibility checks.

• Proposed PMS addresses these gaps by:

  • Enabling structured section/department workflows.

  • Enhancing transparency, role control, and scalability.

  • Planning for integration with analytics dashboards.

3. Methodology

A. Existing Systems:

• Digitize basic workflows (logins, application status).

• Limitations:

  • No section-wise or department-wise allocation.

  • No audit logging or deep eligibility filtering (CGPA, backlogs).

  • Minimal customization or reporting tools.

B. Proposed PMS Features:

• Architecture:

  • Frontend: React.js with Tailwind CSS for responsive UI.

  • Backend: Node.js + Express.js handling APIs and business logic.

  • Database: MongoDB for storing users, applications, and drives.

  • Security: JWT authentication and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

• Functional Modules:

  • Admin: Manages user accounts.

  • Students: Apply for drives, view status.

  • Placement Coordinators: Assign companies by section.

  • TPOs: Allocate drives by department and manage drive lifecycle.

• Data Import/Export: CSV-based uploads/downloads for student/company data.

• Security & Audit:

  • JWT-based login with encrypted credentials.

  • Audit logs for tracking actions.

  • Validation layers prevent redundancy and ensure data integrity.

4. System Design and Architecture

• Three-tier architecture:

  1. Presentation Layer (Frontend): Dynamic dashboards based on roles.

  2. Application Layer (Backend): REST APIs with business logic.

  3. Data Layer (Database): MongoDB stores flexible, scalable documents.

• Communication: RESTful API calls via HTTPS, authenticated by JWT tokens.

5. Workflows

A. Placement Data Flow:

• Structured interaction between Students, Coordinators, TPOs, and Admins.

• Covers drive creation, application submission, shortlisting, and offer issuance.

B. Authentication Workflow:

• Secure login with role decoding.

• Frontend routing and feature access based on role validation.

6. Implementation

A. Frontend:

• Built with React.js + Tailwind CSS.

• Dynamic role-based dashboards:

  • Admin: Manage users.

  • Coordinator: Assign companies to students.

  • TPO: Allocate and manage department drives.

  • Students: Apply to eligible drives and track status.

• Features reusable UI components and Axios API integration.

B. Backend:

• Built using Node.js + Express.js in MVC architecture.

• Uses secure JWT authentication.

• RESTful APIs for all major operations.

• Centralized error handling for consistent responses.

C. Database (MongoDB):

• Collections include:

  • Users (Students, TPOs, Admins, Coordinators)

  • Departments & Sections

  • Companies & Drives

  • Applications & Offers

• Optimized for performance and flexibility.

D. Key Modules:

• User Management: Admin creates users with roles.

• Company Allocation: Section-wise (Coordinator) and department-wise (TPO).

• Drive Lifecycle: From creation to offer generation.

• Audit Logging: Ensures traceability of actions.

? Key Highlights

• PMS is role-aware, modular, and secure.

• Designed specifically for academic institutions, unlike generic job portals.

• Supports eligibility-based filtering, section/department-level coordination, and auditability.

• Built using modern, scalable MERN stack technologies.

• Lays the groundwork for future features like predictive analytics and dashboard visualizations.

Conclusion

The Placement Management System (PMS) presented in this paper provides a structured, transparent, and scalable solution for managing campus recruitment workflows. By integrating role-based modules for Admin, Placement Coordinators, Training & Placement Officers, and Students, the system effectively eliminates the inefficiencies of fragmented spreadsheets, manual communication, and unstructured updates. Key contributions of the system include: 1) Section-wise company allocation by Coordinators, ensuring fair and targeted opportunities for students. 2) Department-wide drive allocation by the TPO, providing a broader institutional perspective. 3) Real-time application tracking for students, which increases transparency and reduces redundant queries. 4) Centralized authentication and data normalization, ensuring consistency, security, and auditability. Compared to existing MERN-based placement/job portals such as College-Placement-Management-System by MoinMN [1] and Job Portal MERN Stack by emmannweb [2], our system introduces academic-specific functionalities that better align with real-world institutional workflows. While resume uploads, automated reporting, and advanced analytics are yet to be integrated, the PMS demonstrates a clear advantage by replicating authentic placement processes within colleges. The system not only reduces manual effort but also establishes a foundation for analytics-driven decision-making in future placement strategies. Its modular design makes it adaptable for further enhancements such as resume parsing, predictive shortlisting using ML, and real-time dashboards. In conclusion, the Placement Management System significantly contributes to improving the placement lifecycle by ensuring fairness, transparency, and operational efficiency. It builds upon the strengths of prior works by MoinMN and emmannweb, while extending their scope to deliver a more student-centric and institutionally aligned platform.

References

[1] MoinMN, “College-Placement-Management-System”, GitHub Repository, [Online]. Available: https://github.com/MoinMN/college-placement-management-system [2] emmannweb, “Job Portal MERN Stack”, GitHub Repository, [Online]. Available: https://github.com/emmannweb/job-portal-mern-stack [3] D. Kiran, & P. Sharma, “Asset Management System Using Web Technologies,” International Journal of Computer Applications, vol. 184, no. 3, pp. 24–28, 2022. [4] R. Mulyadi, & F. Nurprihatin, “Web-Based Information System in Higher Education Institutions,” International Journal of Information Systems and Technologies, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 110–118, 2021. [5] S. Chowdhury, & A. Das, “Review of Modern Web-Based Management Systems in Academic Institutions,” International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT), vol. 12, no. 5, 2023. [6] MongoDB Inc., “MongoDB Manual,” [Online]. Available: https://www.mongodb.com/docs/ [7] Express.js Foundation, “Express.js Documentation,” [Online]. Available: https://expressjs.com/ [8] Meta Platforms, Inc., “React – A JavaScript Library for Building User Interfaces,” [Online]. Available: https://react.dev/ [9] Node.js Foundation, “Node.js Documentation,” [Online]. Available: https://nodejs.org/ [10] D. Patel, “Securing Web Applications Using JSON Web Tokens (JWT),” International Journal of Computer Applications, vol. 182, no. 44, pp. 15–21, 2021.

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Sai Ram Deekonda, S Mahesh, Mahesh Vennu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.