Power Start

And even if someone graduating at the bottom of the class couldn8217;t quite match up to these mega deals, he still had the consolation of being able to pick and choose from at least two job offers.

At IIM-Ahmedabad, for instance, 110 companies offered 510 jobs to 235 students during the five-day placement programme. Of these, 90 came with positions overseas; 72 were picked up rightaway. While the biggest pay packages came with foreign postings, the domestic ones weren8217;t too bad either.

What8217;s triggered the boom? IIM-A director Bakul Dholakia says there8217;s been a rise in the number of job offers in general, allowing 59 of the 163 IIM-A students placed in India to get packages of over Rs 10 lakh per annum.

8216;8216;Also, the spread of sectors has increased, with travel service firms and IT product manufacturing hiring students,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;We had about 30 new recruiters this year.8217;8217;

Graduating students believe it8217;s a combination of a thriving economy, the excellent record of IIM alumni in their sectors and, of course, the obvious8212;but often overlooked8212;disparity in costs of living in India and abroad.

GAURAV AGARWAL
Graduated from IIT Kanpur, now headed for Barclays, London

THIS 29-year-old management graduate from IIM-Bangalore has created a record of sorts by accepting a placement offer of 193,000 Rs 86.85 lakh8212;the highest made at any IIM campus so far and a straight Rs 30 lakh more from the biggest offer made last year8212;from Barclays Capital. In a few months8217; time, he expects to be in London as an associate, with the portfolio of global financial risk management.

After graduating in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur, Agarwal headed straight for Silicon Valley as a 22-year-old. A few years in a network chip design company later, he came back to India to work with his father and also, he says, because he wanted to live at home.

8216;8216;I joined IIM-B because I wanted a change from what I was doing,8217;8217; says Agarwal. 8216;8216;I hope there will be opportunities in India with the company I am going to be working with in a few years. I plan to return soon.8217;8217;

Like others of his ilk, Agarwal doesn8217;t put too much store by the number of zeros in his offer letter. 8216;8216;I attribute the increasing salaries to the economy. I also feel that many Indian salaries being offered now are much more in comparison to mine,8217;8217; he says.

MANAN AHUJA
IIT Delhi graduate, now joining Barclays, New York

A CHEMICAL engineer who worked in Knowledge Process Outsourcing first as a team leader and then as business research manager before joining IIM-A, Ahuja was picked up by Barclays for 185,000.

Last summer, he did an internship with Fidelity Investments, an equity research firm. This summer, he will be in New York as a Barclays associate in commodities trading.

8216;8216;I will join the London branch as an associate for some time and later move to New York,8217;8217; says Ahuja.

This is one megadealmaker who doesn8217;t hide behind coy dismissals about his paycheque: 8216;8216;I was expecting an international offer. It feels great to get it.8217;8217;

MAYANK NAVLAKHA
BITS Mesra graduate, accepted by Barclays, Singapore

WHAT possibly worked to the advantage of this student of electronics and communication was his stint as an intern with FX Derivatives, Singapore. During that time, he developed risk analysis metrices with greeks for individual currencies and cross-currency pairs.

Navlakha8217;s work at Barclays pay package: 185,000 will involve trading in emerging markets and Asia currency trading. 8216;8216;I have done similar work during my internship and am well aware of the team I will be working with,8217;8217; he says.

Navlakha is as aware of his place in the scheme of things. 8216;8216;Even students with little work experience are getting good jobs. This is because the IIMs have created a name for themselves. The salaries are at par with that offered to graduates of international B-schools. IIM alumni have proved their mettle in the last 10 years; that8217;s what has helped create Brand IIM.8217;8217;

SIDDHARTH MAHELA
IIT Delhi graduate, now headed for Barclays, Singapore

LIKE colleague Navlakha, Mahela had a bit of a first-mover advantage: A summer internship with Barclays. Now he has been picked up by the UK-headquartered investment banking company for an annual package of 185,0008212;the third IIM-A grad to be offered the sum.

8216;8216;I will be working in currency trading,8217;8217; says Mahela, who worked with KPO company e-valueserve before joining B-school. His talent was noticed early on: He received a pre-placement offer in July 2005.

M V N SURYA PRASAD
Former DIG, Tamil Nadu police, now joining RPG Enterprise

WITH double bachelor8217;s degrees in commerce and law and 22 years of work experience, Prasad may have felt out of place among the 20-somethings in the classroom, but he8217;s finally getting his due: Rs 34 lakh, the highest package offered by a domestic company to an IIM student this year.

Interestingly, the one-time police commissioner of Madurai cracked the CAT twice earlier; each time, he failed to join since he didn8217;t get duty leave. Prasad, now 42, topped the 1998 services exam, but has no qualms about leaving the IPS at the moment.

VENKATESH SHAKARAMAN
IIT Madras graduate, now joining a foreign co in India

WHILE Shakaraman and IIM-Bangalore, his alma mater, are both tight-lipped about the name and profile of the company he8217;s joining, it is known that he will be getting paid Rs 30 lakh8212;Rs 15 lakh more than the top comparable position last year.

Like many others, he is dismissive about the figures. 8216;8216;This is what is being internationally. Rather than our salaries, we are more interested in negotiating our job profiles and responsibilities,8217;8217; says Shakaraman, who did his post-graduation in science from Ohio State University and began his career with i2 Technologies in the US.