Consulting, finance top recruiters at IIM-A's final placements

The Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on Wednesday published its audited placement data for its three full-time management programmes, the flagship Post Graduate Programme (PGP), the PGP in Agribusiness Management (PGP-ABM), and the PGP for Management Executives (PGPX).

As per the placement data, audited by CRISIL under the Indian Placement Reporting Standards (IPRS), the highest domestic and international maximum earning potential (MEP) at IIM-A was pegged at Rs 37 lakhs and $ 135,643 (Rs approx.), respectively. Among sectors, finance saw the highest number of offers at 94 out of the total 304 offers accepted, followed by consulting (93), FMCG (36), IT (27), and manufacturing (25), among others.

Talking about the sectorial offers, Samir Barua, director, IIM-A said, "Finance sector has not recovered to the pre-2008 glorious days. Which is why consulting has come a close second. It is also being seen that manufacturing companies are becoming aggressive increasingly in recruitments."

The IIM-A-pioneered IPRS is a framework aimed at standardising reporting of placement statistics. For the first time, IIM-A has released placement data under IPRS that specifies the standard format in which the aggregate statistics will be reported across function, sector, and location. Apart from IIM-A, 21 other B-schools will have decided to report placement data under IPRS.

Over 120 firms participated in the laterals and final placements across sectors like banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), FMCG, consulting, IT, engineering, energy, telecom and real estate. Among these consulting firms BCG and EXL were the top recruiters at 11 offers including PPOs, followed by McKinsey and P&G, which made 10 offers each. Also, major banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, Citi, HUL, JP Morgan, Cadbury Kraft, and Dabur made it to campus for placements.

Barua said, "This is an important step towards self-regulation, and we have set an example for the industry by publishing our data first. The credibility of the data is enhanced by the fact that it has been audited by an independent auditor. We appointed CRISIL as our auditor, given its experience in the management education sector and its established track record of independence."

Out of the data for 286 location wise offers made available by IIM-A, India saw 260 offers, followed South East Asia (14), Europe (8), US (2) and Rest of Asia (2). "Looking at the international economic scenario, it can be said that jobs are arising in India," said Barua about the locations wise placement data.