ISBians ready to tread new path

With the graduation ceremony over earlier this month, Indian School of Business (ISB) students are now getting ready to face the challenges of the real world. Though the placement season for the ISB has been below par this year, it, nevertheless, presented opportunities to many to test new waters.

For instance, former hockey midfielder Viren Rasquinha is preparing to don the role of a corporate strategist. He accepted an offer from Max India Limited. “This (new job at Max India) is one phase of the life. It is a matter of tuning myself to the present assignment,” he says.

According to him, the education he had at ISB would complement the management and strategy that is there in the sport that he has played before he hung his boots to join ISB. He will take on the corporate responsibilities in May.

Another student, Deepa Reddy, got an offer from a Switzerland-based pharma company. She will now be trained in Hyderabad by the company for sometime. If not in Hyderabad, she will be posted in Switzerland or in the US. “The job offers have been realistic. There is no hype around the compensation packages,” she says.

The placement season also saw students not accepting offers given to them as they did not meet their set criterion. “Slowdown is an opportunity to show our skills,” she feels. Currently, she is grinding the pharma concepts, interacting with the company officials and studying the market and segment to be the project manager and also business analyst.

Gold medalist Ashish Handa, who will join HSBC (offshoring division) in early May, too is preparing for a different role. The chartered accountant was earlier an audit manager with KPMG. “Earlier, my work involved a lot of number crunching. I will now deal with strategising and setting up offshore businesses,” he says.

He will be back at ISB early next month as an alumni for an orientation to the new batch of students.

Meanwhile, the task force formed by the ISB is working to find the right match for the students. The students, due to the slowdown, are even accepting offers that are less than Rs 10 lakh per year.