Student's corner

Dear Students,

LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Do you think finance sector may not be a favourite with students this placement season?

BEST RESPONSE

The lure of finance sector has lost its dominance with undergraduate engineers who are recruited for their analytical skills while it continues to be favourite with the management graduates. With the glooming economic atmosphere, undergraduates prefer to hold on to their core engineering stable jobs.  Last few years have seen job opportunities gradually declining in finance sector; management graduates with finance interest have to rather scout jobs in other sectors. It would be however incorrect to perceive that finance sector has lost its flavour altogether with the students this placement season.

-- Ankit Bhansali, SJMSOM, IIT Bombay.

OTHER RESPONSES

Among all the verticals, the finance sector has been under pressure since some quarters. Add to that, news like rupee depreciation, various scams, fiscal deficit, GDP growth and euro zone crises leads to added pressure on the financial sector of the economy. Considering this, for a good start in career, students are looking at sectors like FMCG, IT, power and engineering sector instead of finance. Here, news like 100 per cent FDI in single brand in retail sector may add support to students' decisions.

-- Gayasree R Behra, Vidyasagar University, Midnapur.

Despite whatever gloomy scenario being put up globally, finance sector is still the favourite among students for placements this season. On one hand, our government is also launching many good financial schemes day-by-day. On the other, there are reportedly 350,000-400,000 employees who are seeking retirement during 2012-13 in nationalised banks. This provides good impetus to students who are seeking jobs in the finance sector this season.

-- Nirav Dave, Amrut Mody School of Management (AMSoM), Ahmedabad.

There may be gloomy scenario prevailing in the finance sector, be it the Euro crises or political turmoil in Middle East. But for an MBA student, choosing a sector depends on his/her personal abilities and the education institute from which one graduates. If one is good at number-crunching, have a flair for juggling numbers and think one can manage the party well, then finance is the job for him. If one is creative and have a zeal to sell, then there's no doubt one should be in marketing.

-- Nilaya Mitash Shanker, Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial College Of Engineering And Management, (SRMCEM), Lucknow.

The finance sector is going to be less attractive this season but still in our country, there's a huge scope in finance. There is, apparently, huge requirement for professionals in the finance sector.

-- Javed Hussain, University of Pune.

Finance sector will be partially favourite with students this placement season. Sector like IT, textiles, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery are export oriented as the net foreign exchange earnings are very robust and total exports earnings from these sectors are in billion terms which sounds good for placement opportunities. Other sectors like banking and insurance which are already crushed under high RBI monetary policies and European Debt Crisis offer less job opportunities in these sectors.

-- Manav Badhwar, Amity Business School, Noida.

With the changing scenario of markets and instability in the financial sectors, students this placement season are more preferring to go for core sector jobs. For instance, at our institute, many UG and PG students are waiting for opportunities from core engineering companies and not opting for financial banks and related jobs. This trend has come to fore because of changing mindset of students who want to go and utilise their engineering skills in companies and learn from work. More and more students want to work in R&D sector of core companies which are also offering good packages.

-- Anand Kumar, IIT Kharagpur.

The recent mood of hiring-and-firing that has built up in the finance sector is possibly the reason of the recent disillusionment of students from it. There has been a shift in the students' mindset of late. They now acknowledge job security to be equally important, if not more, than the pay package. Resultantly, core-engineering jobs are back in demand and are being viewed as a respectable, more secure option than plum financing jobs. So, students are bucking the recent trends and opting for engineering jobs.

-- Rahul Gautam, IIIT-Delhi

The global slowdown in economies is expected to cast a dark shadow on placements overall and the financial sector in particular. With layoffs in sectors within finance like investment banking, wealth management and equity research, expecting high volume of offers from these areas would be foolhardy. Profiles in retail banking offer little hope; however, financial consulting could logically be viewed as a need of the hour. Traditional profiles in corporate finance could also be a good option.

-- Helga Cardoza, Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research.

As the placement season is on, the fresh pass out post graduates are eager to get placed in the top corporates. However, news of European Debt Crisis and financial instability around the world are making headlines. However, as we all know, finance, marketing and HR are interrelated and interdependent. As a result, slow down in one sector will ultimately affect other sectors too in the near future. The wise thing for post graduate is to give his best shot in all the task he /she performs irrespective of a sector.

-- Harsh Mehta, St. Kabir Institute Of Professional Studies, Ahmedabad.

Finance sector is obviously one of the favorite sectors for students especially when we see the trend with the banking preferences. Most of the students are seen preparing for competitive exams to work with the nationalised banks. This sector requires huge amount of operational capacity in the area of portfolio management, regular operation, credit management, debt analysis, loan sections, insurance, sales and marketing, among others. Hence, a student even with a finance background can identify a positive or negative trend and mould himself accordingly.

-- Sarman Goraniya, Charusat University, Anand.

As such finance is a one of the core activities of any business. Also, when it comes to placements, organisation look for finance people to carry out these activities. Starting from the establishment of a firm, day-to-day running and also for selling out or shutting down finance plays a vital role. Moreover, in order to grow an existing business, the organisation needs a strong financial support with optimum use of resources and no one can do better than a finance guy.

-- Nirav N. Choksi, S. V. Institute of Management, Kadi.

Your responses should reach us at edu@businessstandard.com by Monday evening every week. Please ensure that your responses do not exceed 100 words. Avoid attachments and email your full name, institute's name, batch and complete mailing address. The student who gives the 'Best Response' will be awarded Rs 500.

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: In a bad job market, do you think B-schools should approach placement agencies to place students?