Pre-placement offers (PPOs) seem to be the flavour of the season across B-schools.
PPOs are usually given based on the candidate’s performance during summer internship.
XLRI had a total of 358 candidates in the 2017-19 batch of its flagship programme — the two-year Postgraduate Diploma in Management – HRM and BM. Of this, a total of 122 candidates received PPOs this year, nearly 34 per cent of the total batch size. The number of candidates getting PPOs stood at less than 100 around two years ago.
“There is a clear shift towards PPOs. More and more companies are now coming forth for summer placements and it is having a domino effect. It helps ease psychological pressure among candidatesand keeps them far more focussed,” Uday Damodaran, Chairperson, Placements (two-year PGDM programmes), XLRI, told
IIM-Kozhikode witnessed a 33 per cent rise in the number of candidates bagging PPOs this year. As many as 120 out of the total batch size of 366 students received PPOs this year compared to 90-95 last year, Shovan Chowdhury, Chairperson – Placements, said.
IMI, New Delhi, saw a 25 per cent jump with nearly 50 PPOs being offered to the 2017-19 batch comprising 303 students.
Hedging strategy
Unlike earlier, an increasing a number of start-ups are flocking to B-schools with a good pay package. Hence, some companies treat PPOs as a hedging mechanism.
“Some companies are in fact losing good candidates to start-ups. So, they find it a good hedging strategy,” Dwarika Prasad Uniyal, Dean, FLAME School of Business, said.
Apart from easing pressure on candidates, PPOs also ensure that final placements are quicker.