The ongoing placements season at the Indian School of Business (ISB), with campuses at Hyderabad and Mohali, has seen a significant increase in demand from recruiters for talent from its flagship Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP). Large corporates and start-ups alike competed to hire talent from the two campuses resulting in an all-time high number of offers at 1093.
A highlight of this year’s placements season was the success of the shift from a purely structured system to a flexible hybrid model that also included exclusive days for recruiters who had elaborate hiring processes. Apart from resulting in the highest number of job offers this year, this model also resulted in higher pay packages for the 812-strong Class of 2016.
Top consulting firms like McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group, EY, Deloitte and KPMG continued to be big recruiters, accounting for 19 per cent of the total offers. Technology and technology services firms like Microsoft, Apple, Philips, HCL, Tech Mahindra and Directi were also present in strength, making offers to 11 per cent of the class. E-commerce companies such as Amazon and Flipkart also consolidated their presence and have made a total of 109 offers so far while constituting 10 percent of the total offers to date.
In a significant first, the Government of Andhra Pradesh made offers to 11 ISB students who will become Chief Minister’s Fellows. They will support the emerging state on strategic initiatives and implementation of policies that will contribute to its ambitious vision to emerge a front running state in the country and as a major investment destination.
Better roles
This year the quality of hiring has also improved compared to previous years. A total of 92 offers for senior leadership roles and global leadership programmes were made. These include several CXO level positions. Several of these included offers made to women students as well. Axis Bank alone, which runs its ‘Women Leadership Programme’ at ISB, has made 30 offers, up from 18 last year. Around 20 international companies have made 73 offers so far.
Interestingly, start-ups competed hard with established recruiters, picking up seven per cent of the class across sectors like technology, telecom, e-commerce, transportation and education with senior management roles on offer. BFSI, Healthcare & Pharma sectors remained steady and made equal contributions of about eight per cent each of the total offers as on date.
With a class size of 812 students, the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) at ISB offers, arguably, the largest pool of experienced talent in Asia. In line with the ‘One School , Two Campuses’ philosophy, ISB follows an integrated campus-neutral placements process, allowing students and recruiters an equal opportunity to interact with each other irrespective of their location. The lateral hiring process is spread over several months, giving both recruiters and students time to find their best fit. During this period, the school also supports and encourages students in their independent search efforts to find their preferred careers