Class of 2005: Final placements

Following is our official placement report...

Corporate India swooped down on the portals of one of India’s premier business schools and walked off with the crème de la crème of the country’s future business leaders. So much so, that with an average of 1.8 offers per student at the end of Day 0, placements never got to see Day 1.

Placements 2005 was distinguished by the participation of companies from a wide range of industry sectors, a 66% increase in the number of recruiters, veritable downpour of lateral offers and a 20% increase in the average salary. The average accepted CTC salary was 8.16 lakhs. The corresponding figure for the lateral offers stood at 8.60 lakhs.

The Lateral factor

The batch of 2005 at IIM Indore was rich on experience with almost 80% of them vying for lucrative lateral placement offers. Most of the candidates possessed relevant experience in sectors of their choice, culminating in 93 lateral offers of which 67 were finally accepted. Most of these offers went hand in hand with commensurate increases in pay packages.

Around 10% of the batch had prized Pre-Placement Offers from top-notch organizations like HLL, Standard Chartered Bank, GE, Wipro Technologies, Patni Computer Systems and Asian Paints. 5% of the batch also had prior international exposure, which provided a definite fillip to their final placement efforts.

Recruiters galore

The list of recruiters at IIM Indore resembled a virtual who’s who of India Inc. Apart from the regular recruiters like Standard Chartered Bank, PepsiCo, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, IBM, Wipro and Infosys Technologies, this season also saw relationships developing with ITC, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Covansys, GSK, Accenture, Satyam, CitiFinancial, Mahindra British Telecom, EXL Services, Kotak Group and Sony Entertainment Television. All recruiters expressed extreme satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the placement process and left the campus with firm commitments to be back next year.

Sector-wise breakup of accepted offers

Marketing: The FMCG giants like HLL, ITC, Glaxo SmithKline, PepsiCo and Asian Paints picked up the bulk of marketing talent. The average accepted salary in this sector was 7.98 lakhs. Pharma and Media sectors too were well represented by companies like Glenmark Pharma, Wockhardt and Sony Entertainment TV among others.

IT: The continued growth of the Indian IT sector was clearly evident with all the big names like Infosys Technologies, Wipro, Patni Computer Systems, CSC India, Mahindra British Telecom, Tata Consultancy Services and Satyam Computers coming together to offer the highest number of jobs across sectors. The average accepted salary in this sector was 8.05 lakhs.

ITES: The Indian BPO industry sent strong signals of an exciting future as the average accepted salary in this sector stood at 9.19 lakhs with leaders like Progeon, Gecis, EXL Services and Evalueserve offering lucrative job profiles.

Banking and Financial Services: Banking stalwarts like Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI and UTI Bank led the banking sector while the financial services sector was represented by the likes of Citigroup, Kotak Group, SBI Caps, Adventity, ICICI Lombard and Larsen & Toubro among others. The average accepted salary in this sector was 8.40 lakhs.

Consulting: With 21% of students opting for consulting jobs, companies like TSMG, Accenture, CapGemini, IBM Consulting and Mahindra Consulting continue to be hot draws at IIM Indore. The average accepted salary in this sector was 8.02 lakhs.

General Mgmt., Operations and HR: Opportunities in these sectors were offered by leading companies like Bharti Televentures, Madura Coats, Gecis, Maruti, GMR Group and Anand Corporate Services.

Financial Services and IT/ITES sectors witnessed the maximum number of visiting companies, together constituting almost 60% of the overall recruiters and making around 125 offers between themselves. The meteoric strides being made by the ITES industry were epitomized by hefty salary packages and exciting job profiles. One of the visiting VPs hit the nail right on the head when he remarked: “The BPO sector is not about creating growth. Growth per se is guaranteed. The challenge now is to manage growth. It is a whole new paradigm.” Going by the way these new economy jobs were lapped up, the outgoing batch of IIM Indore couldn’t agree more.

A problem of plenty

A staggering total of 202 offers were made in all to the batch of 112 students. This left many students in a quandary as they found themselves in the enviable situation of having to choose from multiple offers, each one more exciting and challenging than the other. Recruiters too faced a tough time with some who appeared to be certain recruits opting out in favor of more exciting career prospects in other organizations.

Sector-wise breakup of total offers made and accepted

Needless to say, a 100% placement record at IIM Indore is not just a mere statistic but a foregone conclusion.

Money matters

Or so it would seem. But therein hangs a tale, one that is subject to many interpretations and statistical juggling at B-School campuses. Not so at IIM Indore. The figures calculated on a Cost-to Company basis and taking only the 112 accepted offers into account speak for themselves. The sector-wise average and highest CTC salary is given below.

Sector-wise breakup of Average and Highest salary accepted

Some of the highest paymasters were Gecis, Progeon, EXL Services, GSK, ITC, Kotak Group, Sony Entertainment Television and JP Morgan. The effects of a booming economy were fully evident in the final salary scores as majority of the students walked out with substantially higher pay packages compared to previous years.

The Bottom line

“The placement process and co-ordination at IIM Indore is one of the best we have experienced among all the institutes we have interacted with.” – ITC Ltd.

“The batch profile is outstanding. We are yet to see anything like it in other campuses.” –Gecis

The last few years have seen IIM Indore mature into a happy hunting ground of management talent for India Inc. Within just 6 years of its existence, IIM Indore has succeeded in attracting the best of corporate participation in its placement processes. With an international student exchange program all set to take off this year and the superb feedback that we have received from recruiters, IIM Indore looks all set to retain its status as a B-School of choice for both students as well as the corporate world.