Kuwait new hotspot for IIM-A grads

Several IIM-A graduates have opted to take up offers in middle-east

Twenty-five year old Pragya Singh (pictured)and her family are excited about her new job with Al Ghanim Industries, a major business conglomerate based in Kuwait. Pragya who will be joining as a product manager with Al Ghanim will be joined by her batchmate Poorva who also has decided to head to Kuwait.

The reputation of Kuwait as an unsafe city doesn't seem to bother the two graduates who declined other offers in 'safer' cities. Their mentor and Director of IIM-A Bakul Dholakia, believes that these two girls have really taken a brave decision to take up postings in Kuwait, a politically unstable country.

Going by the placements this year, Middle East seems to be the hotspot for IIM-A passouts with girls also choosing Kuwait over other locations.

While 18 graduates from IIMA have opted for the UK and another 15 for the US, an all-time record has been created by the IIMA students this year with 13 of them deciding to go for Kuwait. Three other students are headed to Dubai for jobs.

"Though there were offers from Citi Bank and Pricewaterhouse Coopers, I decided to decided to take up the job with Al Ghanim knowing that Kuwait might not be as peaceful as Mumbai or Delhi. The offer will fetch me US $75000 per annum and Al Ghanim is one of the major business houses in the world,"said Pragya.

Her friend Poorva added, "The city is coming up in a big way and is a heaven for consumer goods manufacturing companies. It would be an interesting market to work in. I believe the Middle East region is going to be one of the most happening regions in the world in future."

"Things are changing very fast as far as Middle East is concerned and this year's placement processes in the major IIMs, like IIM-A, IIM-C and even in IIM-B show clearly that this region is one of the favourite destinations for the management graduates," added Dholakia, the IIMA Director.

Though students have shown keen interest in taking up jobs in the Middle East, the region, surprisingly, didn't feature in the list of 'preferred' locations for students. The reason for this is the uncertain and volatile poiltical climate there.

Students from IIM-C were biased towards Dubai, which they consider a safe haven. IIM-B students seem to follow the IIM-A trend.

Sources in IIMB said that about a dozen of its graduates this year have bagged offers from Middle East and the number is astronomically high in comparison to students had choosen to work in Middle East last year or in the last decade.