Day ZERO at IIM, AHMEDABAD: Recruiters Viewpoint

On day Zero, the who's who of today's world of business and enterprise were there to pick up tomorrow's stalwarts. Minds clashed, the potential of the candidates was judged and offers made and accepted over the last two "physical days" or "placement day Zero" at IIM, Ahmedabad. Sixteen of the world's top firms in their respective areas, represented by their topmost men, were at the "job shops" at India's premier management institute, looking for the brains, energy, enthusiasm and vision to lead their companys' tomorrows.

The campus was overcome with a state of hectic activity and excitement over the last two days. At the end of Day Zero, over 150 offers had been made and 69 accepted, with other students deciding to wait for companies on Day One.

Some of the top firms anywhere in the world were part of this recruitment exercise - the list included names like McKinsey, BCG, Lehman Brothers, J.P. Morgan, i2 Technologies, Delloitte Consulting, IFC, Deutsche Bank, the McKenna Group, Goldman Sachs and MSDW, to name a few. Of these, the last three visit IIM-A exclusively. Marakon Associates was there too - the first time for them on any Indian campus.

So, what is it that makes the most sought after recruiters come to IIM, Ahmedabad?

Murali Ramaswami, MD and Global Head of Equity Derivatives, Lehman Brothers gives some clues - "The students at IIM, Ahmedabad are of a high calibre and we are specially impressed by the talent pool that we are able to interview here. Its in our minds, and in the minds of the other employers who are here, that the students that they are talking to are of the highest level in the world. Myself, I have personally interviewed many, many candidates all over the world, and can say for sure that the people I have interviewed here are among the best."

Rajib Roy, a VP at i2 Technologies says, "Let's go by some data points. In our experience, IIM, Ahmedabad seems to be preparing their students more towards the kind of environment i2 works in - a pretty unstructured environment; it's difficult to predict how the market will be one year from now; customers are playing in a very turbulent market. Adding value to these kinds of businesses is what IIM, Ahmedabad people can do very well."

The process of placements went off smoothly, with only the occasional hitch here and there. The recruiters, used to picking up the cream from the best US B-schools, were very impressed with the arrangements made, and the treatment they received. Says Murali Ramaswami, " We are very impressed with the quality of arrangements made here. The process went very smoothly and we were especially impressed by the fact that the arrangements were made wholly by the student body, with no intervention by the faculty. I guess this is one way that the students get an experience of the real world by managing and organising an event of this complexity."

CoolAvenues.com Team

Placements 2000

Read complete story of Placement 2000 as it happened along with analysis and comparison across the B-Schools and segment-wise analysis.

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