Elite B-school students back in radar of finance cos

IIM-A concluded its summer placements in record four days with top-notch firms like Bain,Morgan Stanley,McKinsey and Co,Goldman Sachs and Microsoft among those offering internships.

Royal Bank of Scotland came exclusively for international roles across Hong Kong and London while for the first time,US-based Walt Disney hired from IIM-A.

“The IIM-A found it difficult to provide students with the internships last year immediately after the down turn. This year the largest-ever batch of 310 students was placed in just four days while a batch of 208 students was placed in six days last year,” Ishita Solanki,Head of IIM-A’s Global Partnerships,said.

Internship programmes in marketing sector grabbed 18 per cent share with positions in sales and marketing management,branding,business development and marketing research. Consulting and general management were the next two preferred domains followed by IT at 11,18 and 9 per cent respectively.

The relatively smaller IIM Kozhikode wrapped up the process in eight days with the highest stipend offer at Rs one lakh. This year,120 firms have made offers to a 309-strong first-year batch of the institute.

Global biggies Arthur D Little,KPMG,Hewitt,HSBC,JP Morgan Chase,Citigroup,Standard Chartered Bank,Deutsche Bank,HUL,Pepsico and Colgate Palmolive recruited from IIM-K.

Forty firms including Biocon,Astra Zeneca,Singapore-based Tolaram group and Dubai-based Gargash Insurance recruited summer interns from IIM-K for the first time.

“The participation of new recruiters in the emerging fields of media,sports management,hospitality and NGOs is indicative that our students are also willing to explore new avenues,” said Keyoor Purani,Chairperson Placements of IIM-K.

The story at IIM-Calcutta is no different where Morgan Stanley recruited exclusively for its London desk. The absence of Lehman Brothers was no longer felt with Nomura,the firm that took over Lehman,making five offers to the students. The banks offered profiles in investment banking divisions,global markets,equity research,sales and corporate banking.

The Royal Bank of Scotland made the largest number of offers by any investment bank,by taking in 11 students. It was closely followed by Barclays Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoA-ML).