Summer placements prove to be a breeze at IIMs

Stipends up 20% World Bank debuts at IIM Calcutta

This season has brought record summer placements for B-schools. In an uncertain job market, management institutions say, placing students has been a breeze this time. Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) at Lucknow, Kolkata and Kozhikode saw a host of companies recruiting students from their campuses.

This year, stipends rose about 20 per cent across institutes. At IIM Lucknow, for instance, the average stipend is about Rs 50,000 a month for domestic locations — a rise of 20 per cent across all recruiters. IIM Lucknow saw its batch size of 453 students being recruited through five days of placements. The students bagged about 500 offers from about 220 companies participating in the placements. The major recruiters, in terms of offers, were Amazon (13), Accenture Management Consulting (10), Headstrong Consulting (10) and Aditya Birla Group (9). Other regular recruiters, too, participated in the process.

At IIM Calcutta, about 230 offers were recorded in just two days of placements. In a first, the World Bank has recruited interns from IIM Calcutta for its financial instruments and treasury departments. DuPont, too, recruited for its marketing leadership development programme---the first time it recruited from any IIM. M.H. Alshaya Co. offered a new profile in its fashion and footwear division, based in Kuwait. Amazon spearheaded the day, with 11 offers in operations, business development and product development.

Other regulars on the campus include consulting firms like BCG, Bain & Co and AT Kearney and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) firms like HUL, ITC, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson, Pepsi Co and Dabur.

At Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI), the placement process lasted four days, with the institution receiving 282 offers for 240 students. About two thirds of the batch were offered stipends exceeding Rs 1,00,000 for the internship period. The stipends were the same as last year. While the highest domestic stipend was offered by an investment bank for its Mumbai desk, the highest international stipend was offered by Novartis for a leadership role at its global headquarters in Switzerland, XLRI said.

IIM Kozhikode, too, recorded placements for its entire batch. About 140 recruiters, 59 per cent of which were new, offered jobs to a batch of 366 students, with the highest stipend at Rs 1,50,000. While banking, FMCG and information technology-enabled services accounted for a vast proportion of the offers, niche sectors like media, healthcare and sports management also made their presence felt. Students also took up offers in healthcare and sports management at a central ministry, as well as a political party.

Abbas Ali Gabula, deputy director (external relations & administration), SP Jain Institute of Management Research, said, “The FMCG sector has been the top recruiter at the campus during autumn placements this year, followed by banking, financial services and insurance, and consulting.”

IIM Bangalore saw 126 companies offer internships to 377 students. The summer internship process here was completed in eight slots, through four days. IIM Ahmedabad began its summer placement process this week.