83% MBAs prefer job profile than hefty package

Over 83 per cent of B-School graduates in India were willing to forego a hefty pay package for a job profile of their preference, said an Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) survey.

Most of the B-school students participating in the Assocham survey answered that a job profile of their preference would help them in their long term career. These future industry managers prefer work profile combined with the growth opportunities, resisting the tempting salary offers.

Surprisingly only four per cent of students opted for fat salary packets over a good job profile. Factors like desire for a higher standard of living, family expectations and responsibilities, compulsion to pay hefty amount of education loans, to save for investment in entrepreneurship have conventionally drawn MBA graduates toward high paying jobs. But the survey indicated that things seem to have changed with preferences changing for the future growth than the present rewards.

Seventy five per cent of the respondents wanted to go to the United States for a job. The United Kingdom and Australia were the next favourite destinations with 40 per cent and 25 per cent of them opting for these countries respectively.

Europe, Canada, Singapore and UAE were the other countries of their choice. ASSOCHAM Secretary General D S Rawat said, "Developed economies with better working conditions, good living standard and promising growth potential lure India’s talent pool as 75 per cent of MBAs wish to work abroad."

Banking was found to be the most preferred sector among the MBA students to work in after their post graduation, as selected by 51 per cent of the respondents Consultancy, marketing and IT sector were other sectors, high on placement agenda of these students. Thirty four per cent of the respondents stated they would not sacrifice the sector for any perk in form of pay or profile. Another 20 per cent asserted that their decision would depend on the factors like job satisfaction, growth potential, ease of switching to desired function, company culture, working hours, relevance of prior work experience, challenge, current financial position, brand name of the company and feedback from the people of the company.

The country-wide survey undertaken by ASSOCHAM’S team covered views of over 500 students among top B-schools including Indian Institute of Management, Institute of Management Technology, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research and Symbiosis Institute of International Business (Pune) among others. The survey covered cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Cochin, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Indore, Patna, Chandigarh and Dehradun.