Inviting more cos pays off for IIM-A

The slowdown seems to have brought along a general sentiment among companies to recruit fewer students from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), this year. However, even as companies having a long-standing recruiting partnership with the campus seem to be hiring fewer recruits, the silver lining is that the total number of companies visiting IIM-A has gone up this year.

With the bad market conditions and the meltdown in the global financial scenario, the placement team at IIM-A has reached out to a wide range of sectors and firms this year. While day zero saw a handful of investment banks and consulting firms including Booz and Co, Bain and Co, Boston Consulting Group and AT Kearney Inc, the following days have witnessed an increased presence of firms from other sectors like banks, market research, FMCG companies and general management.

Resigning to the fact that traditional companies may not absorb students in large numbers, IIM-A, which has so far dictated which companies visited its campus, seems to have invited one and all to accomodate its students in such turbulent times. With the absence of international majors like Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, students seem to have turned to domestic and local companies besides the startups.

“Last year, if a top firm recruited 10, this year they are recruiting only four. Keeping this in mind, we had already invited many more and mostly first-time recruiters to the campus,” said a student on the condition of anonymity.

Even for the lateral placements earlier this year, there were newer recruiters from fresh sectors replacing conservative sectors like international banks and consultancy firms. As for the final placements, the students have toned down their salary expectations at most business schools, which comes as a major blow to the students of IIMs.

“Everyday around 15-20 companies have been visiting the campus. Of course, the absence of regulars has been felt at the institute, the number of companies visting the campus has gone up, thereby offering some respite. The idea of inviting more companies during the slowdown seems to have paid off,” said a source close to the development. Around 230 students from the institute are believed to be participating in the placements this year.