Executive course graduates in demand

Pay hits stratospheric heights as more companies come calling.

For executives who quit their cushy jobs to do a one-year post-graduate programme in management at reputed management schools, it could be a problem of plenty, with placement offers pouring in two months before their course comes to an end.

At the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A), the first among the IIMs to launch the one year programme for executives, called PGPEX, over 40 companies have confirmed dates or have already interviewed candidates.

Companies are from consulting, IT, consumer goods, real estate, operations and infrastructure space.

Some of the recruiters that will participate in placements this year are McKinsey, Microsoft, GE, Shell, Booz Allen Hamilton, Arthur D'Little, Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, ITC, RPG, Yes Bank, Infosys and Tech Mahindra.

Last year, the highest domestic salary was Rs 60 lakh, while the highest international salary was $ 250,000 per annum and early negotiations show that the bar is set to go higher.

Nearly 10 to15 students have shown interest in joining start-up companies. The institute's placement council has been in touch with nearly 20 start-ups and at least four among them will be recruiting from the batch this year.

Similarly, over 60 offers have been made at the executive management programme, PGPEX at IIM-Calcutta including an overseas offer of $ 2,00,000 per annum. Six students accepted international offers that averaged $ 1,21,000, while domestic assignments touching as high as Rs 43 lakh, averaged Rs 20 lakh.

The placement process drew 48 companies, including first-timers AD Little, Wal-Mart and Levis, for the 39 graduating students who had gone into the one-year full-time programme with 9 years of work experience on an average.

Of the 48 companies that participated in the placement programme, 24 per cent were consultancy companies. Top consulting companies, such as McKinsey and Co., AT Kearney, AD Little, Accenture Consulting and PwC Global interviewed students for senior positions in their organisations.

The scenario has been equally upbeat for the first batch of the Post Graduate Programme in Public Management and Policy (PGP-PMP) at IIM-Ahmedabad where the participants have seen average salary offers range between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 35 lakh.

Companies including DLF, GMR group, IF&FS, ICICI Foundation, ICICI Lombard, RPG, Arshiya International, Centurion Bank of Punjab, SBI Caps, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Yes Bank have visited the campus, where some of them have made offers to the participants.

At the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad, where some of the best executive offers are made across campuses, the placement process has just begun.

Unlike the two-year Post Graduate Programme (PGP), where a large number of students get placed in the final placement week executive participants have a system of rolling placements which take place between January and February end.

BIG DEAL

Highest domestic salary to exceed Rs 60 lakh

Highest international salary to go over $250,000

Average domestic salaries between Rs 20 and Rs 35 lakh

Average international salary around $120,000