13% of job offers at IIT-Madras are from start-ups

On an average the start-ups have offered anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per annum as salary

Start-ups have acquired almost 13% of the total 880 students placed from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT Madras) at the end of the first phase of placement. This year, almost 65 start up companies took part in the placement so far, as compared to five firms that participated last year, says the IIT placement head.

In the first phase of placement 295 companies offered placement to 880 students from the campus, till the end of December 19, 2014, as compared to 263 companies placing 905 students during the entire placement season ended April 30, 2014. This year, the highest domestic salary is Rs 34 lakhs for which two offers were made, and the highest foreign salary is $129,500 for which three offers were made.

"This year, there were around 65 start-ups participating in the placement, who offered a total of 122 jobs. The number of offers accepted was 114 out of this," said Babu Viswanathan, professor, mechanical engineering and advisor, Training & Placement, IIT Madras.

He added that the start-ups on an average were offered around Rs 10-20 lakh per annum as salary, which is competitive in the market and the students were also ready to take up the offer since he visibility in start-ups is higher right from the beginning.

Sector-wise statistics show that the percentage of students opting for research and development has increased to 13% this year two% last year. IT attracted the same 27% interest as it did last year, while the core sector witnessed a decrease from 30% to 27%. It may be noted that the placements in the education sector are expected to come in only in the second phase of placement.

There has been a 5-10% increase in the number of companies that have come on campus this year and a 10-12% increase in the salaries offered, even in core companies.

While the highest compensation offered by a foreign company last year was $210,000, this year it is $129,500. When asked, Viswanathan said that while last year the salary was calaculated including the variable pay, which might not materialse immediately, this year the calculation is only on the gross salary component and generally the US salaries are at the range of $120,000 to $130,000, he added.

This year, around 61 students received two offers, nine students received three offers, four students received four offers and one student received five offers, he said.

MBA students had the highest percentage of placement as shown by the programme-wise statistics. 92% of the MBA students got placed as compared to 82% till April 30, 2013, while the number of students placed from PhD was only five% compared to 22% during the entire placement season last year.

This year, the maximum number of jobs were offered by Cognizant Technology (36 offers), followed by Ola Cabs (29), Flipkart (19), Robert Bosch (16), Citicorp Services India Ltd (15), TVS (15), Goldman Sachs (14), Reliance (13), Urban Ladder (13), Eaton Technologies (12), GE (11), Photon Interactive (11), Target Corporation (11), General Motors (10), Honeywell (10), ICICI Lombard (10) and Tata Motors (10).