IIM-L placement to focus on work experience

Nivedita Mookerji

The countdown has begun at the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow (IIM-L), for the D-day. In fact the placement process has been set in motion with companies delivering pre-placement talks and selecting summer interns. What is yet to come is the recruitment of the final year students.

Says Anand Bhatia, representative for Media Relations Committee,(IIM-L): ``The placement week is scheduled to start on February 23 (that is, Day Zero will be Feb 23).'' He adds: ``What is an on-going process is the direct contact with the companies for pre-placement talks and the conduct of the summer intern selections. As it stands today the process for selection of the summer interns is in its final stages with a few students left.''Probably an indicator to the final placement, companies such as Procter & Gamble, Hindustan Lever Ltd and Citibank have already started with pre-placement offers (PPOs) to select summer interns at IIM-L. According to Bhatia, in the run up to the placement week, a few more PPOs willmaterialise.

In keeping with the international trend, IIM-L is focussing on work experience of the students for the final placement. That is, a shift is expected to `higher entry placement programme' or the HEPP. Explains Bhatia: ``The initiative is meant to place students with work experience of over 30 months. This is to enable both the companies and students to capitalise on valuable work experience of the past.'' And several companies have already shown interest in the same, adds Bhatia. At present, the work experience profile at IIM-L is something like this:

No work experience--8 per cent

Up to a year's experience--46per cent

p 1-2 years' experience--35 per cent

2-3 years' experience--7 per cent

3 years' experience--4 per cent

Talking about the preferences this year, Bhatia states: ``The thrust would be on Systems, Operations and Marketing-based companies.'' And of course, foreign placements will continue to remain much sought after. Says Bhatia: ``Going by thetrend of increased foreign placements at IIM-L, this year we have the Supply Chain Management-based company i2 Technologies coming to our campus. The past recruiters for overseas placement have been D&T (a US-based consultancy) and Mashreq Bank.

Among the new companies visiting the IIM-L campus this year are i2 Tech, Polaris, Wipro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Rediffusion.

Giving an industry-wise break-up of 1998 placements, Bhatia says 35 jobs were accepted in Banking & Finance, 44 in Marketing & Advertising, 24 in Systems and 14 in Consulting. And the key recruiters were Infosys with 15 placements, Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation with 10, Ramco Systems with 9, Deloitee & Touche Consulting with 8, ANZ Grindlays with 7, Procter & Gamble with 6, and Asian Paints with 6.

What is the likely change in the offers this year? Replies Bhatia: ``This year we expect an increase in the number of offers made in Systems, Operations and Marketing.'' Also, some of the new trends which were visible during`Placement 98' will probably repeat this year. Among these trends are:

Increased recruitment by PSUs such as Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Hindustan Petroleum, Indian Airlines and Power Finance Corporation with highly attractive pay packages.

More firms looking for generalists with special aptitude for the area of focus for the company.

Another striking feature of `Placement 99' will be a major hike in the number of companies participating. Last year 51 companies participated in the placement process, and this year over 70 companies are likely to come to the campus, says Bhatia.

With the growth in demand for areas such as Internet and Enterprise Resource Planning, companies may recruit students for these specialised applications. To meet that need, IIM-L has been offering special programmes for students.Also significant is the focus on dual specialisation in the students' choice of electives at IIM-L. The number of students who have opted for specialisation in both Marketing and Financeis a whopping 71, in Finance and Systems 42, in Systems and Marketing 32, in Operations and Marketing 25 and in marketing and HR 12. This is a reflection of what these students expect in `Placement 99'.

On the salaries front, Bhatia says, inspite of the recession a 10 to 15 per cent increase is expected in the pay packet. Last year, the highest salary offered on the campus was $69,000 per annum and the average salary was Rs 3.76 lakh per annum. Says Bhatia: ``With the increased thrust on companies recruiting for overseas placement, we expect the salary levels to increase. Also with the expected increase in recruitment in Systems and ERP Consulting, the average pay packets will see an upward trend.''

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