As summer placements kick off, investment banks are not the flavour anymore

Talent, quality and good grades never go out of fashion, even in recessionary times. Just look at the summer placement scenario across
the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). At all institutes, the number of companies visiting the campuses has risen though the profile has undergone a change.

Summer placements have kicked off in most IIMs, while in a few like IIM-Ahmedabad and IIM-Bangalore, they will begin this week.

Expectedly, investment banks are not the flavour anymore. Traditional underdogs at the IIM job market—media and entertainment, pharmaceutical, healthcare and rural marketing—are the preferred sectors among students this year. The number of firms in these sectors has increased in the last two years.

“In IIM-Bangalore, only four firms from media and entertainment visited the campus last year. This year the number has doubled,” says a member of the IIM-Bangalore placement panel. IIM-B’s summer internship will start on Tuesday. It’s expecting a drop in offers from financial services and overseas postings.

“Last year we had about 100 international placements mostly in the domains of financial, consulting and engineering services. This time there will be a slump in the overseas offers,” says Sourav Mukherjee, the placement chairman of IIM-B.

IIM-Kozhikode had 14 international offers this year compared to four last year. It has recorded 100% placement. “Despite a drop in participation from investment banks, 27% of students will intern in finance companies this year, while a large chunk opted for the strategy and consulting roles,” says Revant Bhate, member, placements committee.

Media and real estate companies like Sony Entertainment Television, Viacom, Star News and BBC World have offered both creative and marketing roles. IIM-Ahmedabad is expecting more companies from the media and entertainment sectors. Placements in IIM-Calcutta are still in process.

An IIM-Indore official says, “This time our focus is on sectors like media and entertainment, start-ups, sports management and pharmaceuticals.”

Source: EconomicTimes