Alumni lift mood at B-school placements

Several management institutes have seen their former students coming back as recruiters during slowdown time

Even as the economic slowdown has dampened their placement prospects, B-schools have one section to bank on - former students. While slowdown-hit companies have cut down their intake from B-schools, the alumni have come to the rescue of their alma mater during final placements.

Take, for instance, the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K). It's alumni, especially those who have started their own businesses, have come back in considerable numbers to recruit the B-school graduates.

Recently, the institute's placements chairperson, Kulbhushan Balooni, even thanked IIM-K's alumni for pro-actively participating in the placement process.

"A significant number of students would also be joining companies such as EduRaft, Vista Mind, Sugee Group, and V2 Solutions & CampHire, which were started or are being run by IIM-K alumni. Despite recessionary fears and a slowdown, IIM-K successfully hosted all major industry stalwarts along with a large number of new recruiters," he said.

Newer IIMs such as IIM-Raipur are also witnessing this trend. "We are in our second placement season this year, but already, four-five alumni came back with their companies or have been instrumental in bringing their companies for placements. It was a pleasant surprise," said Sanjeev Parashar, chairperson, placements.

At Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), the number of former students coming back to the institute for hiring has been steadily increasing over the past few years. "There has been a gradual rise in the number of our alumni recruiting during placements. Which is why this year we had 100 per cent placements quite early. Many of the human resource department people in companies are our alumni," said Fr E Abraham, director, XLRI-Jamshedpur, while refusing to divulge the exact number of alumni among total recruiters.

Seconding Abraham's observation is Sabita Mohanty, faculty coordinator, placements, Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar.

"With each passing year, the number of alumni returning as recruiters has been increasing on our campus. Our alumni have stood by us even during the slowdown," said Mohanty.

According to XLRI's final placement report, 75 recruiters (73 in 2012) participated, with 255 offers being made to a batch of 240 students. In 2012, 284 offers were made to a batch of 235 students. The average domestic salary offered this year was Rs 16.48 lakh. The median domestic salary was Rs 15.5 lakh.

IIM-K has concluded the final placement for its 2011-13 batch with as many as 146 top companies, including Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, Unilever, Cognizant, Deloitte, Airtel, Britannia, L&T, ITC, Reliance, Amul, KPMG, TCS, HCL and Wipro, offering lucrative job offers.

While the average annual salary offered to the batch was Rs 12.31 lakh, the highest domestic package stood at Rs 32 lakh per annum. According to the institute's placement office, the number of international offers this year stood at 22, with roles being offered across locations such as the West Asia, Africa and Asia-Pacific in healthcare, fast moving consumer goods, information security and commodities sectors.

Some other top companies that recruited from the campus include Goldman Sachs, Aditya Birla Group, Deutsche Bank, TVS, American Express, VistaMind, PepsiCo, JP Morgan, Vodafone, Infosys, Ranbaxy, and Cipla.

According to IIM-K, 2013 saw an increase in the total number of companies participating in the placement process, compared to 2012. In 2012, there were 135 recruiters for a batch 317 students. This year, there were 146 recruiters participating the recruitment process for 325 students.