IIM grads spoilt for choice

THINGS are only getting better for top B-school students. The options have multiplied. Big names have gotten a little bigger. Stipends have never been this good. And the seriousness of intent couldn’t get more serious. Summer placements at IIMs this year mirror well the state of the Indian economy and India Inc’s mood. Of course, the old ones thronged the campus, from Ibankers like Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan to consulting majors like McKinsey and Value Partners. But reflecting the changing composition of the Indian economy, many companies from New-Age sectors — from Reliance, Nike and RPG in retail, Jones Lang LaSalle in real estate, Sony Entertainment Television and Yahoo! in media to startups like pagalguy.com — have also been accepted. Every year in October-November, six IIMs organise summer placements for their first-year students. Since this precedes the full-fledged campus placements, summer placements are a good indicator of what lies ahead for students graduating out of the campuses next year. New sectors are getting plenty of attention from young graduates. Students at IIMA showed an increased interest in joining startup firms which would give them valuable exposure across functions and higher levels of responsibility in a short time. RPG Retail president JH Mehta said the company had flocked to IIMs this year as good quality research in retail was the need of the hour. Technopak Advisors chairman Arvind Singhal said the firm had offered live projects in emerging areas, like retail and consumer products, and would use the opportunity to vet prospective recruits. “Most of these organisations are building their talent pools now and this would be a great opportunity for interns to learn and grow with the organisation,” said IIML placement chairman Pankaj Kumar. IIMI placement chairperson Prashant Salwan said new sector companies had offered internship profiles which were more researchoriented and in line with student aspirations. It begins with the stipends being offered by the companies. It has risen sharply across campuses. Average stipends have risen by up to 50% for some institutes, along with a record number of international offers. IIMC saw domestic stipends for the two-month stint ranging from Rs 90,000 to Rs 4.5 lakh, while international stipends shot up as high as $22,000. “At IIMK, we saw average stipends grow by 35%,” said placement chairperson K Balooni. “Companies think of summer placements as the first step in the final recruitment process. Thus, they are only too willing to pay higher stipends to attract and retain the best brains,” said A Nayak, executive VP, HR, ITC, which picked up IIMA and IIMC students. With competition for hiring graduating students intensifying, firms have begun to see summers as a good way to introduce themselves to the prospective recruits. Special projects are being worked out, mentors are being assigned to forge better relationships and understanding with them. IIMA, IIMB and IIMC saw senior-level profiles offered by Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Barclays Capital similar to those earlier offered only to the Ivyleague schools. McKinsey and Co, Bain and Co and AT Kearney were first-time recruiters at IIMB, picking up 11 students. Amit Bordia, VP, alternative risk markets, Deutsche Bank, said: “Students are being recruited as associates, equivalent to the roles offered to graduates from the leading US B-schools like Harvard and Wharton.” Though summer placements have always been an integral part of BCG’s recruitment process across the globe, it started in India only last year. “This is because we wanted to make sure that every intern gets proper hands-on training and to handle live projects,” says BCG principal Saurabh Tripathi. Earlier, consulting firms, usually among the top recruiters for final placements, weren’t regulars during the summers. “But now, since I- banks are bagging some of the best summer interns through PPOs, consulting firms are coming for summers as well in greater numbers so as to not lose out in the process,” says IIMB placement chairperson S Mukherjee. This year saw a significant increase in the number of exclusive recruiters who chose to recruit only from particular IIM campuses. IIMC saw exclusive recruiters like Morgan Stanley International, Credit Suisse and Fortis. IIMI got firms like Verve Consulting, Astro Mesat and CanvasM. Temasek and Barings Singapore only chose IIMB and IIMK saw seven such firms in diverse areas, like ship management, M&A advisory and retail. “This trend is because a firm feels a synergy between requirements and strengths of a particular institute. Like IIMC, whose students are acknowledged to be particularly strong in quantitative skills,” says IIMC recruitment coordinator Ritesh Kapur. TOWARDS NORTH Summer placements at IIMs this year mirror well the state of the Indian economy New-Age companies like Reliance, Sony and Yahoo! have been accepted too IIMA students more interested in startup firms which would give them higher responsibility early Average stipends have risen by up to 50%, along with a record number of global offers

source: economic times