More students may opt out of B-school placements this year

Placement process yet to be completed at most of top B-schools including IIMs

The entrepreneurial bug continues to bite students at Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) this placement season. While IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) is expected to see students opting out of placements to start entrepreneurial ventures to double this year compared to the last, other IIMs are hopeful of seeing at least the same as last year, if not more.

Although the placement process is yet to be completed at most of the top B-schools including IIMs, campuses are expected to witness a rise by 20-50 per cent in the number of students opting out of placements to start their entrepreneurial ventures.

“For the past couple of years, a lot of start-ups have also begun hiring at IIMs and other B-schools rolling out interesting job profiles and faster growth. Add to that, the economy is expected to get better in the near future. Hence, the numbers could be encouraging this year since students see a sense to venture out," said Bhavya Kapoor, placement officer at IIM Indore. As against three students opting out of placements last year, IIM Indore is likely to see the number rise to around five.

In order to encourage students to take up entrepreneurship, the institute is exclusively offering the deferred placement option to those opting out of placements only to start their own ventures. Deferred placements is an option offered by the likes of IIM-A, IIM-Bangalore, IIM-Calcutta and IIM-Indore, among others, wherein students can opt out of placements process and can come back to re-participate after two years in case their ventures do not succeed.

At IIM-A, five students had chosen to walk the entrepreneurial path last year; according to institute sources, the number could be eight to 10 this year. An email questionnaire sent to IIM-A’s placement committee remained unanswered at the time of going to press. Other B-schools, such as Xavier’s Institute of Management -Bhubaneswar (XIMB), too, expect the numbers to rise marginally.

“Though so far the number of students opting out of placements is similar to last year at four-to-five, one could expect a marginal rise in the numbers. This is because after the general elections, the economy may revive and support entrepreneurial ventures with considerable growth potential,” said Sabita Mohanty, faculty co-ordinator (placements) at XIMB. On the other hand, IIM-Lucknow, which has completed its placements saw a few students opting out in favour of entrepreneurship opportunities. Officials from IIM-Lucknow said some students opted out of the placement process wanting to get into start-ups. The institute does not have deferred placements.

Meanwhile, XLRI Jamshedpur, which offers deferred placement programmes, has not seen students opting out of placements.