Consultancies on top, students prefer India

In a clear sign of how global recession has affected placements, Day 2 of the Slot Zero at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad saw consulting firms emerge as the clear favourite over the traditionally-preferred investment banks.

A majority of the accepted offers have come through consulting firms like Monitor Group, McKinsey, Bain Consulting, BCG and Accenture.

The average salary offered by consulting firms is Rs 20 lakh, of which the bonus component forms 10 per cent. The Monitor Group has been one of the large recruiters picking up 10 students, McKinsey is said to have picked six for India and New York, Bain and Associates has recruited six, Boston Consulting Group has recruited seven, two of these for positions in Sydney, while AT Kearney has recruited six students.

Although investment banks lead package-wise, with average offers of Rs 30 lakh, a large number of students have taken up consulting jobs.

Private equity firms and venture capitalist firms also made an entry on day two with competitive offers. The higher offers have come in the bracket of Rs 50-60 lakh which have been offered by investment banks. UBS Investment Bank is said to have made an offer of Rs 50 lakh for an India position.

More than 90 companies are expected to be a part of the placement process this year and all students will most likely be placed by March 9.

IIM-Bangalore
By the end of Day 4, almost 90 per cent of the IIM-B final year students got offer letters, sources said.

Some of the students had even got two offers, with many having secured offers based on their summer training (pre-placement) and lateral placements.

Some students are, however, still waiting to receive offers from desired companies (mostly Indian MNCs) on the final day of placements on Saturday. Companies who will figure on the final day at IIM-B include ITC, Marico Industries, Reliance Industries, Aditya Birla Group and Lodha Group.

About 100 students have managed to secure overseas postings this year. "There has been a growing inclination to serve in Indian companies, or ask for a posting in India," said one student. IIM-B had invited about 100 companies, but a few have not turned up for various reasons.

IIM-Lucknow
All 256 students in the IIM Lucknow batch were placed today. Students had received around 90 pre-placement offers during their summer internships.

Apart from the financial sector, which took nearly 13 per cent of the students, consultancy firms were present in large numbers at the campus this year. They included McKinsey, AT Kearney, Ernst & Young, Accenture and Deloitte Consulting, who recruited about 10 per cent of the students.

The other companies who recruited students were JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, GlaxoSmithKline, Tatas, ITC, Marico, Pepsi, Coke and Dabur.

IIM-Calcutta starts its final placement on March 8.