Talking about the enthusiastic response from companies this year, Anil Joshi, placement representative, IIM Bangalore, says: ``Other than the traditional recruiters like Hindustan Lever Ltd, Asian Paints, McKinsey and Infosys, we have Lehman Brothers, Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte and Touche, Mitchell Madison Group and many others.''

Joshi says that this year is different from the previous years in terms of students' preference. ``Compared with the trends in the previous years, this year there is a remarkable shift in interest towards Information Technology,'' he says.

What do the IIM-B students expect in terms of salaries this year? States Joshi: ``It is very difficult to answer this question at this stage.'' How much are companies offering? ``The highest salary this yearis expected to be above $100,000 and the lowest is but a guess,'' replies Joshi.

Considering that the highest salary expected this year exceeds $100,000, how does the salary trend compare with the previous years? Says Joshi: ``There is definitely an increase in the salaries offered as well as the expectations. Anything below Rs 2.5 lakh is being considered as low.'' He, however, adds that all these are only preplacement views.

Is there is a significant difference now from the salaries offered in previous years? To this, Joshi offers an elaborate explanation: ``IIM-B has been consistently rated among the top B-schools in India. Many a time, we have been rated the best in India or the second best in India. Every year, many companies realise this fact and put IIM-B on their recruitment map. This year seems to be a culmination of this trend.''

Plus, says Joshi, ``we are expecting to attract the best recruiters worldwide and hope to have the best placements in India. Hence, there is a remarkable upward shiftin the salaries offered.''

Concludes Joshi, ``Any company that misses out on IIM-B this year has only itself to blame.''