7 months on, some IIM-A execs without jobs

The job scenario is hotting up if one goes by employment forecasts. However, for the first time, students of the 2009-10 post-graduate programme for executives batch at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) are yet to find jobs.

This despite the fact that 'rolling' placement by the institute started seven months back.

In 2008-09, all students from the PGPX batch were recruited by June. The batch of 2009-10 was expected to follow suit.

"There are students left in single digits. We cannot reveal the exact number, as it would put undue pressure on those yet to be placed," admitted Saral Mukherjee, placement chairperson at IIM-A.

"PGPX students come with many years of experience and many of them are on sabbatical or on leave and the placement process at IIM-A help them to make the right decision with regard to profile match and other fitments. Thus, the time taken to finally close a final offer is sometimes around two to three months. Thus the delay in completing the PGPX placements," Mukherjee reasoned.

Launched in 2006-07, the PGPX programme admits experienced professionals from diverse industries.

The institute placement office continues to support their career plans by facilitating interaction with firms with the appropriate requirements, till all are placed in roles of their choice.

In 2009, 80 students had joined the PGPX-IV batch. The batch had an average age of 34 years, average GMAT of 720 and average total work experience of 10 years.

There are eight students from this batch of PGPX, of which five are venturing into their own business in various sectors of IT, ITES, Energy and BPO. Three of them are still incubating their business idea and are working with Centre for Incubation Innovation and Entrepreneurship -- CIIE set up at IIM-A, according to a mail from the placements office.

In contrast, IIMA's third batch of PGPX (2008-09) programme placement season started in January for around 70 students who opted for placements.

By the end of May 2009, 93 per cent of the batch seeking placements got jobs, while four students launched entrepreneurial ventures in a variety of fields such as clean energy, manufacturing, and services. The average domestic annual salary for the class was Rs. 20.16 lakh (2.01 million).

Two students were placed internationally, at an average salary of $122,000.

However, the institute claims that the placements have so far been better for the batch of 2009-10 with increased salaries and diverse recruiters including IBM, McKinsey, Google, Deloitte, Nokia-Siemens Networks, Amazon, Hero Honda, Polaris, Welspun, NISG, RPG, Marg Infrastructure, VBHC, L&T and IL&FS seeking candidates from the institute.

Many participants have accepted roles which include, among others, a CEO, a senior vice president, three vice presidents, 10 general managers, one director, eight assistant vice presidents, 16 strategic consulting roles, and several senior manager positions. 

The Indian School of Business, Hyderabad which also follows the 'rolling' placement model, had to extend its placements till June instead of March to ensure that all its students found appropriate jobs this year.

It was in 2009, for the first time since its inception, that ISB had extended its placement season indefinitely. Also, last year, most compensation packages fell to Rs 13-15 lakh (Rs 1.3 to 1.5 million), compared to the Rs 18-20 lakh (Rs 1.8 to 2 million) in 2008.

"We intend to continue the rolling placements process next year also," said Sriram Gopalakrishnan, head of marketing and communications.