The final ‘Placement Week’ of the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)’s Post Graduate Programme (PGP) batch of 2007-09, began on Wednesday, amid tight secrecy. The Institute Director’s office and nor the Media Cell of IIMA gave any official comment on the developments of the first day. Even Praveen Christian, In-Charge Placement Cell IIMA, when contacted simply said, “We will share everything but only after the week comes ends and we have a better picture before us.”

All in all, close to 250 PGP students are vying for top jobs. Though there has been widespread apprehension (even IIMA Director Samir Barua expressed the same a few days back) about the placements this year due to the economic meltdown, sources confirmed that most of the regular recruiters are expected this time too. The IIMA alumni have also extended a helping hand in this regard, officials said.

In addition, IIMA is looking at widening its recruitment base this year. As Banking and Financial services jobs are expected to shrink drastically, IIMA hopes to make up with increased recruitments in consulting, marketing, telecom, insurance, FMCG, health care, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing and infrastructure.

Also, the students in the campus seem prepared for the inevitable lower perks and salary rationalization. Some PGP students indicated towards a shift from hefty packages to role preference and stability. This is the reason why several Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are also visiting the campus this year. Some students even mentioned that the implementation of Sixth Pay Commission had substantially reduced the salary difference between the private and public sector, and that they would be willing to take up PSU jobs if the profile was good.

A section is also of the view that the crisis may prove to be a blessing in disguise as students may now be inclined to get back to their core area of interest rather then following the trend.