MBA Students at IIT Kanpur Preferred Dream Profiles Over Plum Offers During Placement 2008

"That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

If Placements 2007 was all about breaking new grounds, Placements 2008 was about building on that momentum and consolidation. The D-day, December 1, arrived quite serenely with a pleasant morning chill. But the scorching pace of events that followed took both the recruiters and the recruits by surprise. Companies eventually had to be turned back as there were no candidates left. Day One ended with the entire 2008 batch being placed successfully!

In line with the previous year’s trend, IT & ITES recruiters accounted for half of the recruitments. IT giants such as Accenture, Infosys, Infosys BPO, Satyam and TCS offered profiles in verticals like Banking, ERP, SCM Consulting and Insurance to name a few. One of the Big Four Audit & Consulting firms KPMG continued its relationship with IIT Kanpur and offered profiles in Risk Advisory.

The next biggest share of the pie was cornered by banks & investment firms like Citigroup, Standard Chartered, SBI Capital Markets, IL&FS, ICICI Bank, ICICI Securities and others. SBI Capital Markets presented profiles in Investment Banking, Infrastructure & Project Finance and Mergers & Acquisitions. ICICI Bank offered roles in Credit Risk Management, Treasury Sales, Product Sales, while Citigroup offered profile in Treasury Management.

Oil & Gas bigwigs Schlumberger and BPCL visited the campus for the first time. While Schlumberger offered profiles in Logistics Management, BPCL came up with profiles in both Marketing & Finance. Manufacturing major Maruti Udyog Limited and Banking major Kotak Mahindra offered core Marketing profiles. Bristlecone offered profiles in SCM Consulting & Operations. The Analytics domain was covered by Genpact, Boston Analytics and HSBC Analytics.

In all, 22 companies confirmed their participation for 28 students of 2008 batch. The average pay package surged to INR 8.61 Lakhs per annum, an increase of 7.2% over the previous year. The highest offer on campus was INR 12 Lakhs per annum. Recruits preferred dream profiles over plum offers. Companies like Schlumberger, BPCL, TCS, Standard Chartered Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bristlecone, Genpact, ICICI Securities, HSBC Analytics, and Boston Analytics could not get any candidates.

Companies vied for the first slot in the placement process and the recruiters were highly impressed with the outcome of the whole process. In the view of the Placement Coordinator, Prof. R. N. Sengupta, "The remarkable success of this year’s placement process proves the high level of confidence that companies place on our students."

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