In 2008, any question about job offers drew grim looks from B-school students and professors. This year, the smiles are back. The premier Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other prominent B-schools like XLRI Jamshedpur are confident that 2009 will be better than 2008.
Their optimism stems from the fact that 7 to 10 per cent of their students have already received pre-placement offers (PPOs) this year, thanks to India Inc's better-than-expected first quarter results. Last year, few students could boast of receiving PPOs, according to students and placements coordinators at the IIMs.
PPOs are placement offers before the first day of placement at any campus. They are offered to students who are or were trainees in the company during their internships.The PPOs, this year, are mainly from investment banks and consulting firms such as Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Scotland, McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company and Boston Consultancy Group for IIM students.
The PPO season runs throughout the year and depends on how long the institute wants to extend it. Sometimes PPOs go on till the beginning of the final placements season.
Some institutes are even hopeful that salaries and offers this year may touch the magical 2007 figure. In 2007, the IIMs together received over 500 PPOs. Last year, the number had halved.
"Our students have already bagged several PPOs and pre-placement interviews (PPIs) from top consulting, finance, marketing and general management firms based in India and abroad. We expect the total number of pre-placement offers to be much higher this year than last year because there is a significant improvement in hiring sentiment across the board this year," affirmed an IIM-Lucknow spokesperson.
Last year, IIM Lucknow had 326 students; this year there are 374 students. The figures include both the post-graduate programme (PGP) and PGP-ABM (Agri-Business Management). IIM Lucknow received 90 PPOs last year.
At the XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur, around 10 per cent of the 2010 batch has received PPOs, primarily from the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and general management sectors.
E Abraham, Director, XLRI, said: "We are expecting more offers from financial and consulting sectors for August and September, when hiring decisions are finalised at most companies during the second quarter. With improved signs of recovery in the economy, students are hopeful of better placements and internships in the year ahead."
The institute's summer internship programme (SIP) has seen a success rate of 100 per cent across various sectors like finance, marketing, general management, consulting and HR. XLRI had 180 students last year, a number that has risen to 240 students this year. This includes 120 students from the business management (BM) programme. The batch size for its personnel management and industrial relations has doubled this year from 60 last year.
In 2007, IIIM-Calcutta received 90 PPOs, its highest-ever. In 2008, that number dropped to 59. Now, officials there confirm, things are expected to pick up. "The economy is improving. Last year, some firms had put a freeze on hiring and a few investment banks did not even participate in the final placement process. But this year there should be a surge of PPOs and should continue well after September, unlike last year," said Prafulla Agnihotri, IIM-C placement chairperson.
AT IIM Bangalore (IIM-B), too, sources in the students' placements committee said companies like McKinsey & Co, Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Co, a few finance and FMCG companies, have made offers to the students this year so far. Last year, IIM-B reportedly received 40 pre-placement offers, way below the 110 a year before.
IIM-Ahmedabad is also optimistic. Its students' placements coordinator said that offers have come in from consulting, finance, marketing and even entrepreneurship firms. Last year IIM-A reportedly received 52 PPOs.
