Consultancy still popular among B-school students: Nielsen survey

Multi-national management consultancy firms like BCG, McKinsey and Goldman and Sachs could be some of the preferred prospective employers this year on the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other B-school campuses, according to a Nielsen Campus Track - B School Survey 2007 by Nielsen Company, India.

According to the survey, 40% of the students interviewed voted the above MNCs as their "dream company". Investment banking (31%), foreign banks (24%) and software/IT consultancy/IT service (24%) emerge as the next most popular sectors for students from the six IIMs across the country.

The average salary expectation for the IIM students from their dream company is close to Rs 19 lakh, which is 30% more than last year. While the salary expectation from a local Indian firm is about Rs.14.2 lakh, it almost doubled to Rs 27.4 lakh when it comes to foreign companies, the survey said.

The survey interviewed 349 students from the latest batch of IIM due to graduate in 2008 along with students from other important management institutes in the country. 

"Management consultancies have always been favourite and most sought-after prospective employees among management graduates, specially the IIMs. This can be attributed to their stamp value in the market, good job content in terms of contributing to strategic thinking and great pay package," Vatsala Pant, associate director, client solutions, The Nielsen Company, India, said. 

While retailers are yet to have any significant presence in the top 10 rankings of most preferred employers, the sector is a promising one for the students with 39% opting for it followed by private equity investors (26%).