207 job offers for 265 IIM-C grads in Phase I

IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) held the first phase of its final placements process between February 21 and 24, which saw a total of 207 offers being made to a total of 265 students from the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) and Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Management (PGDCM) batch of 2007-09.

Of these, 56 offers are pre-placement offers (PPOs), made to students based on the summer internships. A few PPOs were rejected by students due to the expected curb on H1B visas and location preferences.

The Final Placement Week this time in IIM Calcutta was split into two phases due to the final examination of the graduating batch of students. Therefore, Phase I, consisting of the first four days (Slot 0 and Slot 1) happened on February 21-24. Phase II will commence after the examinations are done.

This is scheduled to begin on March 2. The campus saw participation from a large number of sectors who recruited students for roles in finance, consulting, marketing, operations, general management and IT. A total of 49 companies visited IIM-C in the four days of Phase 1 while 25 companies came for recruitment during lateral process. IIM-C had a total of 107 companies visiting the campus for hiring during the complete placement process last year.

Out of the 207 offers this year, 33 are for international locations with assignments in the US, UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. India still remained the preferred destination for a majority of the students with many choosing to stay here.

IIM Calcutta maintained its niche with the much sought after Slot 0 (most coveted) companies, with as many as 89 offers in Slot 0 alone. These include 50 Slot 0 PPOs and 39 Slot 0 final placement offers. Companies making the highest number of Slot 0 offers (PPOs and finals) are McKinsey, BCG, Frost and Sullivan, Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley. Firms such as Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, ITC and Nokia too were among the highly preferred companies in Slot 0.

The compensations offered by the companies, contrary to prediction, has not see a dip this year so far. Firms offering a position similar to those offered the previous year ensured that the remuneration was competitive, and in many cases better than their previous offerings.

Many international firms, affected by the downturn, had reduced the number of offers made, while in quite a few instances, students rejected lucrative international offers to opt for more secure jobs in other firms in the same sector. The expectations this time were not high, after witnessing the placements in other leading institutes across the country.