PGP Placements – 2009

Overview

 Post-graduate Programme in Management

Year after year, the placements at IIMA have kept getting better. Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad where the least you can be is “The best”, has been internationally acclaimed as the toughest B-school in the world to get into, so much so that out of 1,75,000 applicants, it is a mere 260 that finally make into this coveted institute. A place where values are sacrosanct and mediocrity is profanity, a constant search for excellence drives the students to scale insuperable heights – an attribute they carry with them for the rest of their lives. Known for its academic rigour, IIMA has lived up to its reputation of offering the best breed of managers and leaders to the corporate world for over four decades now. The consistently hundred per cent placement record at IIMA is an acknowledgement of this recognition and the rigorous training focusing on innovation, leadership, teamwork, and global business climate. This year too, the Summer Placements and the Finals saw immense belief and trust shown by recruiters from varied fields in brand IIMA.

Persevering Excellence

Dispelling all anxieties and rumors about reduced hiring due to the sub-prime crisis and the worldwide economic slowdown, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad successfully conducted its final placement process from 25th February to 4th March, 2009. 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. Refer to Figure 1 for the batch profile of the IIMA batch of 2009, and to Table 1 for the sector-wise distribution of jobs accepted by students. Figure 2 illustrates the geographical distribution of jobs accepted by students.

Fig. 1 Batch Profile, PGP

Fig. 2 Jobs by Location

A two-sided opportunity

The placement process this year saw an exciting range of roles and opportunities on offer for IIMA students. The highest number of offers on campus were made by the Union Bank of India (18 offers) which has offered senior positions to IIMA 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 and 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 and Consulting continue to rule the roost

Despite the global financial crisis, finance saw the highest percentage of acceptances at 42%. 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 26%, consulting saw the second highest acceptance. 68% 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 15% of the batch.

Table 1: Sector/function-wise Placements

India and 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 and Gamble).

Foreign and Domestic Offers and Acceptances

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, 9 students (Including 1 ABM) 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.

Summer Placements

As part of the curriculum, it is mandatory for students to undertake a summer internship after their first year to gain experience of corporate life. The summer internship of eight to ten weeks duration provides students an opportunity to work with top level Indian and foreign companies. It nurtures world-class managers for success in a rapidly and highly competitive global business climate by exposing students to real life, unstructured situations and providing them with frameworks, skills, and analytical tools to address such situations. Students work on projects which are diverse, challenging, and provide intense learning experiences in new product launches, global brand extensions, market research, financial and risk valuation and analysis, etc.

Sector wise Distribution of Summer Placement