The big banks are back at B-schools

Big investment banks are back at the country's premier B-schools. The Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) has just reaped a harvest of foreign summer placement offers.

On the first day of recruitment for summer placement, November 15, 36 offers were made "" all but one for overseas postings "" against nine at IIM-Bangalore and 11 at IIM-Kolkata. Interestingly, all the offers came from top global investment banks, underscoring the boom in the stock market.

Goldman Sachs has recruited 11 IIM-A students this time round, against six last year. Lehman Brothers has hired eight, compared with six last year, while six others were snagged by Merrill Lynch. Three students have been hired by Deutsche Bank, two each by Morgan Stanley, UBS Warburg and J P Morgan, and HSBC picked one student on Day Zero.

One of the two students hired by UBS will be posted in India.

"It is significant that Goldman Sachs, one of the largest investment banking companies in the world, has hired a record 11 students from IIM-A for summer placement. The company hires students only from a few select campuses in Asia, IIM-A being one," said Saikat Sengupta, spokesperson for IIM-A's recruitment cell.

These students will be offered a stipend ranging between Rs 20,000 and Rs 35,000 per week, depending on their posting.

"There has been a rise in stipends this year because of the boom in the stock market," said Sengupta, who expects big banks to come knocking too. "Most of these students will be posted in New York and London, followed by Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore. We are expecting Citibank, Standard Chartered and other big banks to come in the next round," he said.

The next round of recruitment will be on November 29.

Pooja Mishra, who got offers from three top investment banks on Day Zero, has opted to work with Goldman Sachs in London. "It is a great privilege to work with the best bank in the world," she said.

Interestingly, Mishra said none of the companies asked technical questions during the interview. "They asked only personal questions. I guess it is because of their confidence in the quality of education and students at IIM-A."

Jasdeep Singh, a graduate from IIT-Delhi, was offered a job by Goldman Sachs after three rounds of interviews, Deutsche Bank after six rounds, as also by Lehman Brothers after a couple of rounds. "I opted for Lehman Brothers as the area of work""fixed income""is my preferred domain, but all the offers were great," said Singh, who will be leaving for New York next summer.

"We are now looking forward to all our 258 batchmates getting placed in the next rounds," a cheerful Mishra said.