B-school placement 2011: Hiring trend & major recruiters

Many students who pursue MBA have dreams to make it to top of corporate ladder very soon. They hope that an MBA degree will help them get attractive job offers with excellent pay packages. They see themselves as the managers and other high-profile employees of MNCs, earning handsomely and leading a satisfactory life. However, one thing that confuses the MBA aspirants is which specialization would help them land a job. Over the years Marketing and Finance students have got maximum job offers and better salary packages but with time this trend has been seeing a slight shift. If we go by the B-school placements of this year we will see that students who specialize in Finance got maximum job offers.

During the last two years when recession had hit the world, MBA graduates saw gloomy time. The job offers were handful, the salaries they were offered were meager and they were plagued by the uncertainty of cost cutting and retrenchment. However, two years down the line the situation has improved. Now companies are back in hiring mode and they are offering good salaries. Let us examine the hiring trend of B-schools this placement-:

Finance ruled the roost

This year Finance was the major recruiter during final placements at B-schools around India. Finance students got many job offers with attractive salary package. Companies like American Express, Goldman Sachs, Nomura, JP Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered, ICICI Bank, HSBC Global and Citi Global bank have recruited in large number. This year, many finance companies have also offered roles at foreign locations like Singapore, London, Hong Kong, New York and Dubai. Even at Jaipuria Institute of Management, banking and financial services dominated the placements this year by recruiting 167 finance wizards from its campuses.

Let us see the percentage-wise job offers made by finance companies at IIMs.

Consulting firms also hire in large numbers

The next top runner in terms of B-school recruitment was consulting firms. A large number of consulting firms hired from B-schools for both top and middle-level positions. Consulting majors like Cognizant Business Consulting, TCS, Bain & Co, AT Kearney, KPMG, Deloitte Consulting and Accenture Business Consulting firmed hired from premier B-schools. The B-schools were buzz with hiring activity and major international consulting firms were hiring in large number.

Marketing comes at third position

Then it was marketing students that bagged offers from many MNCs. Many companies hired students for marketing profiles. These students were offered high as well as medium level positions. 33 per cent of the 200 plus batch was recruited for Marketing positions from FMS, Delhi University. Marketing students were offered diverse opportunities in the areas of branding, marketing and sales functions by FMCG majors like Procter & Gamble, Pepsi, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle, Asian Paints, ITC, Amul, Cadbury, Marico, Reckitt Benckiser, Britannia, etc. Even many advertising firms recruited in large number. For IIM Kozhikode, 26% of the batch took up roles in Marketing and Operations. At Sydenham Institute of Management, all 37 students bagged job offers with the highest salary amounting to Rs 14 lakh per annum