Does having an arrear during the first year in Anna University affect our chances of getting placed?

There are two things you should be aware of: current arrears and arrears history. The current arrear is the one for which you have not yet cleared the paper at the time of placement. To put it simply, they are the unresolved papers you have in the seventh and eighth semesters, i.e. during the placement season.

The history of arrears is the one you cleared at the time of placement, but it will remain in your academic records. Every company has its own criteria for selecting candidates, but the majority of companies (say, 98%) will not hire a student who is currently in arrears. What's more, you wouldn't be able to attend even large IT companies.

So, to get to the point, having an arrear in the first semester will not affect your placements, but you should complete the paper by the sixth semester (for non-circuit branches) or the end of the second year (for circuit branches) as placements begin a little earlier, such as having internship opportunities in the third year in great companies such as Microsoft ( for CS and IT). If you are a mechanical engineer and have an arrear and clear it, you will be unable to attend some good companies such as Hyundai, Daimler(Benz), and others.