Top B-Schools and IIMs expect fewer recruiters, fewer jobs and lower salaries this time

Lessons in real life are often better than what's taught in the classrooms, even if they happen to be at the country's best Bschools. For students graduating in 2012, the real-time learning of managing their careers through economic volatility is the only consolation in what threatens to be a gloomy placement season across the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and at the Indian School of Business.

At least four IIM directors, two student heads of placement cells, recruitment managers, head-hunters and students told ETthey expect fewer recruiters, fewer jobs and lower salaries when the placement season kicks off next month.

They are bracing for the worst, and gently lowering expectations to cushion the impact on hundreds of students aspiring for dream jobs. Placing 350-odd students sitting for the final placements would be a challenge, admits Professor Amit Dhiman, IIM-Calcutta's placements chairperson.

"I want to understand how far the slowdown will impact us this year," says 24-yearold Vishal Sharma, a final-year student at IIM-Ahmedabad, flipping through a business magazine for articles on the slowdown. Batchmate R Sridhar is in touch with the alumni to gauge hiring sentiments across companies. The class of 2012 has seen global economic volatility at its worst. They sat for their entrance exams in late 2009, when the world economy was still reeling under the impact of the previous year's financial crisis.

They walked into the campus for the first day at school in June 2010, when the early hints of recovery were quite evident, at least in India. Those hopes have been belied as they prepare to pass out in a few months. "When we entered IIM-A in 2010, it was a good recovery year (after 2008 meltdown). But now when we are ready to enter the corporate world, there are fears of a double-dip recession," says Sridhar.

"The number of Day Zero finance jobs, including those from investment banks, are likely to go down," says Prof Dhiman. "But not every sector is doing badly. Consulting companies have multiple job offers, as do IT, technology product companies." Adds Debashis Chatterjee, director, IIMKozhikode: "The number of companies visiting and offers being made will be conservative."

FMCG and durables companies haven't dropped out. They are coming to the campus, but they will recruit fewer students. "Some have said they are coming just to maintain their relationship on campus. They will recruit only 1 or 2 people," says Dhiman. Some FMCG companies had hired 10-15 each last year. Pre-placement offers at IIM-C are down to 75 compared with 90-plus during the same time last year. Some Day 3, Day 4 companies have also dropped out.

"In 2009, we were banking on domestic offers. But this time, besides global offers, even the domestic ones will be affected," adds Dhiman. IIM-Bangalore has been tempering the hopes of its students for some time now, not just this year. "The students are mature now and many of them come with work experience; they understand they may not get their dream job.

Not everything is rosy," says Sapna Agarwal, head of career development services at the institute. The placement committee and faculty are trying to point students to other sectors that are equally good. "We have increased the bouquet of desirable companies. We are trying to help students understand the goodness of other industries (which may not have necessarily been part of their first choice)," says Agarwal.

Adds Ashish Dongre, an IIM-B PGP student, "The faculty is helping students come to terms with sustained recession." The Rs 1-crore salaries, foreign postings won't happen. "Instead of only Ivy League companies, middle and smaller companies are offering challenging and equally competitive jobs. It's right to bring down expectations," says Dongre.

At IIM-B, 370 students will line up for placements this year. "Most recruiters are reserving judgement on the number of people they are planning to hire," says Ashish Srivastava, placement committee member at XLRI-Jamshedpur.

"Most will recruit less. If the market picks up later, they will hire more from the market." "Consulting is looking fine, but finance is taking a hit. We are not sure about marketing yet, but no one seems to have any major expansion plans," he adds. Earlier in November, companies were enthusiastic in picking first-year students for six-week internships, raising hopes of a strong hiring sentiment. But free interns are one thing; paid hires are another.

Campus insiders say many students have cancelled holidays from their year-end schedules. CVs are being reworked and social networks actively accessed for the latest buzz on hiring. At IIM-Ranchi, consumer-facing companies, including those in the FMCG and durables sector, have been affected and a couple of those that had originally planned to visit the campus have backed out.

"It would have been a problem if we had a larger batch, even 120 students. But since we are going into final placements with only 44 students, we are not worried," says MJ Xavier, IIM-Ranchi director. Institutes placing a large number of students will surely face problems, he says. The average salary will come down this year.

"Those at the top of the class will still get good offers, but the average bunch will probably get a little less," he says. How much less is the questions B-school grads are fretting about. (Names of some students quoted in this story have been changed at their request.)

Reporting by Tapash Talukdar, Parag Dave (Ahmedabad), Devina Sengupta (Bangalore) and Sreeradha D Basu (Kolkata).

Source: Economic Times