Higher intake raises IIMB summer placements

The summer placements saw the entire batch of 233 students placed by Day 2 despite an increase in strength by nearly 30 per cent over last year.

The number of offers on Day zero swelled from 41 in the previous year to 77, a remarkable 71 per cent rise. Acceptances also staged a smart 120 per cent increase to 60 and the number of firms vying for students increased a whopping 200 per cent.

Some 90 companies took part in the placement process on day zero. They included global investment banking firms like Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, J P Morgan, Lehman Brothers, HSBC and Barclays Capital.

Companies like UBS, Freudenberg (the German conglomerate) Reinsurance Group of America, General Motors-Shanghai, Target Group (the international retailing giant) recruited exclusively from IIMB. New recruiters in the summers process included investment banks like Credit Suisse First Boston, Citigroup, consulting firms like the Boston Consulting Group, Private Equity players like Temasek Holdings and Barings, and hedge funds like Sandstone Capital.

Offers made on day zero placed students across the world, including Wall Street, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bonn, Munich, Berlin and Bangkok. General Motors Asia Pacific made its debut in the recruitment for their Shanghai unit and recruited interns for its treasury division. This nearly guarantees a global exposure to IIMB students.

Some of the biggest recruiters of Day 1 were HLL, P&G, Citibank, HSBC India and Development Bank of Singapore. Consistent increase was also noticed in the number of students placed on subsequent days, the figures standing at 104 on Day 1 and 69 on Day 2. Indian Firms like P&G, Tata Administrative Services, ICICI Bank, Metlife and Aditya Birla Group also offered positions abroad, showing an emerging trend.

Of the 71 students with overseas offers, 18 were women who represent nearly 45 per cent of the female strength at IIMB.

The sectoral split of the offers made this year shows the variety in the profile of positions available to students across the entire spectrum of finance, farketing and General Management.

Companies were also upbeat about their prospective hires - "IIMB is perhaps the most preferred campus from the perspective of finding well rounded student profiles from diverse backgrounds, meeting both academic and extra curricular accomplishments" said Krishnaprasad Ramanathan, vice president, Wealth Management, HSBC The overwhelming success of the process and the companies' response is a reflection of the quality of students selected by IIMB and a growing international reputation for the institute.

Similar levels of participation and interest is expected carry forward into Final placements 2006.