It might be raining offers for the older IIMs and few of the other top B-schools, but some of the newer IIMs are feeling the heat of the slowdown.
The newer IIMs, which have so far reported a poor show in terms of the number of pre-placement offers (PPOs) bagged by the PGP batch of 2012-14, are expecting a difficult final placement season this year. The placement committees at some of these B-schools are stepping up efforts to ensure a smooth placement process.
PPOs are given by companies to candidates who undergo a two-month internship with them during the summer. Though a number of companies give PPOs by end of July or early August, the real rush is usually around October-November, senior industry officials said. Such offers are usually made by employers with a view to retain talent ahead of the final placements, which typically commences in January.
IIM – Calcutta received 58 PPOs (including 11 pre-placement interest) as of the first week of August, a press statement said.
Management consulting firms led the pack both in the number of PPOs and in the PPO conversion rate at the institute. The top four management consulting firms alone offered 27 PPOs, out of a total of 30 interns, translating into a 90 per cent conversion rate. Both McKinsey & Co and Bain & Co offered full-time positions to all their interns from IIM-C. The Boston Consulting Group offered 10 PPOs, while AT Kearney made four offers.
Good Show
Other firms that made PPOs are Hindustan Unilever, Microsoft, Accenture Management Consulting, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aditya Birla Group and Flipkart, among others. The institute expects more PPOs to pour in during the next two to three months despite the weak macroeconomic scenario.
IIM – Bangalore has already received 50 PPOs so far for its 2012-14 batch of 377 students who finished their summer internships this May. “The PPOs will continue to come in till November-December. Last year we had received 97 PPOs and we have already crossed the half-way mark till now,” said Sapna Agarwal, Head of Career Development Services at IIM-B.
Gearing up
XLRI (Jamshedpur) expects to receive a similar or marginally higher number of offers this year as compared to last year. “We have received a good number of PPOs so far. It goes on till November. We expect to receive 50-60 PPOs this year,” said Rajiv Mishra, Chairperson, Placements, XLRI.
IIM – Ranchi, which has managed to get only two PPOs so far, plans to appoint regional representatives in various cities to ensure smooth final placements, said a senior official at the institute. “The situation is slightly disappointing. By now we should have received information pertaining to PPOs but we’ve only got two offers so far. We have already started contacting the companies and are organising workshops, besides appointing regional executives, to ensure smooth final placements,” the official said.
According to Dwarika Prasad Uniyal, Chairperson, Placement Committee, IIM – Kashipur, companies first approach the top three IIMs for the PPOs before moving on to others. “It is too early to comment on PPOs. We have written to some companies but we are yet to see how this gets translated into actual offers,” he said. The institute, which did not manage to bag a single PPO/PPI last year, expects to get 10-16 offers for its batch of 40 students this year.
Meanwhile, for its final placements, IIM – Kashipur is focusingon the West Asian and African markets. “There is a good demand for retail, finance and manufacturing in the Middle East and African countries. We are also organising a leadership conclave at the Corbett national park in October this year to attract the top officials of various companies. This will help them interact with our students. I am quite optimistic of getting good placements for our batch this year,” he said.
IIM – Lucknow has received 57 PPOs, including PPIs, this year. According to Pushpendra Priyadarshi, head of placements at IIM – Lucknow, companies have been increasingly using the PPO route for recruiting. With some of its regular recruiters yet to come up with their offers, the institute expects more PPOs this year compared to last year.