Finance & Consulting Remain Preferred Recruiters at IIM Ahmedabad

The placement process for the graduating batch of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) has come to a close. All PGP students sitting for placements at IIM Ahmedabad have been placed. In possibly the most volatile job market in recent years, recruiters reaffirmed the position of IIM Ahmedabad as a premier destination for hiring the best talent. The placement process saw participation from 109 firms across sectors, out of which 95 firms recruited in the final placements process.

The Slot 0

Slot Zero is an important part of the placement process and sees participation from firms that are preferred on campuses across the country by students. Approximately 34% of the batch has been placed in the Slot 0 firms that include international banks and consulting firms. There are several offers in this slot of more than Rs. 1 Crore (international offer converted to Indian Rupees at current exchange rate). Having said this, however, we would like to emphasize that the rest of the placement is equally important in terms of quality of roles that are offered to our graduates. Often, the offers open up completely new frontiers for our graduates.

A Two-Sided Opportunity 

The placement process this year saw an exciting range of roles and opportunities on offer for IIM-A students. The highest number of offers on campus were made by the Union Bank of India (18 offers) which has offered senior positions to IIM-A graduates across various verticals of the bank, giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a significant strategic difference to UBI’s growth over the next few years. Twelve students were recruited by Jaypee Capital, a first time recruiter on campus – for managing their operations in financial and capital markets – roles that are similar to those offered by international banks. We see these as examples of “flight to quality” where new firms are recognizing the opportunity to hire IIM Ahmedabad graduates for strategic roles in growing their businesses and for establishing new businesses. 

Other prominent recruiters include Bain and Company (8 final acceptances), McKinsey and Co. (8 final acceptances), Boston Consulting Group (7 final acceptances), TAS (7 final acceptances) and first time recruiters Frost & Sullivan (5 final acceptances). The process also saw participation from Unicon Securities, which made 12 offers, global network giant Alcatel-Lucent which made 5 offers, and offers from a range of firms returning to campus such as IOCL, STCI, Bank of Baroda, SEBI, IFCI, BPCL and ICRA. 

Finance & Consulting Continue to Rule the Roost

Despite the global financial crisis, finance saw the highest percentage of acceptances at 39%. The decision of over 100 students to opt for jobs in the financial sector reflects that the choice of students is based on long term career choice. At 24%, consulting saw the second highest acceptance. 63% of the batch, therefore, opted for finance and consulting jobs. The shift from previous years was, thus, not as drastic as had been expected. Marketing jobs saw acceptances by about 13% of the batch. 

IIMA Placement 2009: Break-up of Jobs Across Sectors

IIMA Placement 2009: Break-up of Jobs Across Years

India & Abroad – Changing Trends

The two dominant trends that were seen with respect to location – lower number of offers from international banks and international offers from Indian firms (TAS and Aditya Birla Group). International positions were also offered in marketing (Procter & Gamble). 

Nine Days of Placements – An Overview

The placement process this year was conducted over a nine day period from February 25 to March 5, 2009. This year, a larger number of firms participated in the placement process. The longer duration and greater diversity of firms allowed students more time to make better career choices. Another factor that affected the duration of placements was that very senior executives participated in the placement process. The average salary for domestic offers was Rs. 12.17 lakhs while that of international offers was USD 83,000 (exclusive of bonus). These figures are only indicative as salary data for all firms are yet to be collated and the international salary figures are in different currencies. 

Entrepreneurship – A Culture of Excellence

Continuing with tradition, IIM Ahmedabad students opted, as in previous years, to start their own ventures. The trend observed this year shows that starting a venture is not a function of market conditions. This year, 7 students have opted to start their own ventures as opposed to around 10 last year. 

Student Choice – A Matter of Principle

Even in the tough market conditions, IIM Ahmedabad continued to stand by its commitment to student choice. Pre-Placement Offer (PPO) holders were given an opportunity to apply to firms visiting campus in final placements. Students getting offers in the placement process were given the choice of holding one offer and of playing “dreams” across slots for companies they were keen to join. This ensured that students got an opportunity to take up offers of their choice.

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