When Zomato.com wanted to hire talents from the country’s management institutes last year, the online food and lifestyle site had to wait for big MNCs and investment firms to pick up the best hands first and then started its hunt.
This year, Zomato, which started online ticketing for upcoming events recently, hired 10 candidates from the IIMs without having to wait for its turn to come. With referrals and word of mouth spreading even before big investment banks reached IIM-Ahmedabad campus, Zomato roped in a candidate with a salary package of Rs 12 lakh per annum.
Zomato is not alone. The country’s leading e-commerce sites, be it FlipKart, snapdeal, dealsandyou, Cleartrip or Via — have also been able to attract a good number of talents from country’s premier educational institutions like the IITs and the IIMs. It is not because they are offering fat pay-packages compared to global and other Indian companies from diverse sectors, but because its entrepreneurial spirit is wooing many of the pass-outs to join this sector.
“This is a growing sector,” notes Avin Vaish, an IIT-Kanpur student who will soon join a travel portal. “You enjoy a lot of responsibility and get hands on training at these start-ups. They provide a lot of exposure.”
In the current year, a number of e-commerce portals were seen knocking on the doors of IIMs and IITs to get fresh talent to run their business.
Flipkart says this space is expected to grow to about $10 billion. “Needless to say, this trend will see the emergence of a number of e-commerce players in the market — both established and smaller start-ups,” points out Mekin Maheswari, its president (technology). “Consequently, the need for human capital will simultaneously increase with rising opportunities in this market.”
Flipkart has stepped up its hiring from the top engineering and management colleges this year. In the current placement season alone, Flipkart has made around 120 offers at IITs and another 25 on various other campuses. The current headcount at Flipkart is 4,500.
“This is a growing trend,” notes Gaurav Kachru CEO of dealsandyou. “This is an indication of the maturity of the sector. Acquiring premium manpower would be a key differentiator in sustaining this growth.” VIA says the travel and ticketing portal utilises the alumni networks at the country’s premier technology and management schools. “When the candidates hear from their alumni, they look forward to make a career in this sunrise sector,” says a VIA spokesperson.
Another e-commerce site, Myntra, which started hiring from the IIMs last year, hopes to recruit around 8-10 IIM pass-outs this year. “At the IITs, this was our first year although a lot of our existing talent base is from the IITs,” notes a Myntra spokesperson. “We are hiring 8-10 students from IIT Mumbai and Kanpur this year.”
| ON A HIRING SPREE E-commerce portals knock on the doors of IIMs and IITs looking for fresh talent to run their business | |||||
| E-commerce site | No. of people hired from IITs/IIMs in 2010 | No. of people hired from IITs/IIMs in 2011 | Average salary offered to recruits | Highest salary offered to recruits | Total headcount |
| FlipKart | 100-IITs 40-IIMs (in last 2 years) | 120 offers at IITs 25 offers at other campuses | NA | NA | 4,500 |
| Snapdeal | First year on campus | 30-IIT’s and is in the process of hiring from IIM’s as well | NA | NA | 800 |
| Tradus.in | First year on campus | Rs 5L to 11L | NA | NA | |
| Myntra | 3 laterals 3 freshers from IIMs | Planning to hire 8-10 from IIMs & 8-10 from IITs | Rs 13-15LPA-IIT Rs 15-20LPA-IIM | Rs 20 LPA | 400 |
| VIA | 16 IITs | 27 IITs | Rs 9-10 LPA | Rs 13 LPA | 700 |
| Cleartrip | First year on campus | 4 candidates, one each at IIM-B and IIM-C and two at IIM-A | The stipend for interns is Rs 25,000 per month | NA | 370 |
| Zoomato.com | 3 (1-IIT, 2-IIMs) | 16 (6-IITs, 10-IIMs) | Rs 10-11 LPA for IIMs Rs 8 LPA for IITs | Rs 12 LPA | 100 |
| Source: Industry | |||||
There are also players like Cleartrip, snapdeal and tradus.in which have entered the IIM and IIT campuses for the first time this year. According to Cleartrip, the company hasn’t recruited from the IITs. It went for summer placements at Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata IIMs. “The final placements are in February,” says Jays Chandy, senior VP & head (HR) at Cleartrip.com. “Hence, the candidates haven’t been decided yet.”
He says the company did see a lot of e-commerce companies on the campuses this year. “Even among students, there is a lot of interest in the e-commerce and emerging technology companies,” Chandy notes. “These companies got good slots at the campus as well, even though it was their first or second year at campus.”
Snapdeal, which is just 20 months old as a company, started hiring from the campuses in this cycle.
More than 50 per cent of the recruits this year at Tradus.in, which started operations in 2010, are from the IITs and the IIMs.
