UTI Mutual Fund is going through a facelift, and as part of the restructuring, the organisation plans to hire management graduates from top business schools across the country this year to infuse fresh blood into the organisation. Priya Ranjan, Group President and Head HR, UTI Mutual Fund spoke to BusinessLine on Campus on the kind of talent the organisation is seeking and more. Excerpts:
Which business schools do you plan to hire from and for what roles?
We are looking to hire MBAs from top business schools like IIMs and XLRI primarily for investment management, which is our principal function. We are also looking for people to join us in other support functions like human resources, sales and business development.
Do you plan to hire interns as well or will you be conducting campus placements in the final process?
This year we plan to hire directly, however, from next year onwards we will be hiring interns and will make final offers through PPOs as well.
What do you look for when you hire management graduates?
We look for three things - intelligence or knowledge about what the market is or what the capital markets mean etc. Second thing we are looking at is – a high level of energy, and third is - the value system and integrity that the individual brings to the table.
Another specific thing, we are looking for is the ability to ask questions or question status-quo. We want people who can question what and why we have been doing something.
What are the things management graduates can look forward to learn at your organisation when they join UTI Mutual Funds?
In the investment function we have the Investment Apprenticeship Programme where management graduates go through a training programme for one year before they become analyst or junior analyst, and then they graduate into senior analyst, research analyst roles before becoming fund managers. It's a very clear-cut path we offer to them.
The training is a structured programme where 1) A candidate can have inputs on the job on how the work is done 2) Can get mentorship from the senior research analyst and the senior fund managers and 3) And is offered very different and competitive compensation system. So, there are three pillars on which apprenticeship programme is based.
In addition to these three things we also offer an environment where the principles of professionalism, meritocracy, respect, and forward thinking are more aligned and adhered to than it had been in the past. So, that's a kind of change one can expect one he or she joins into the company.
What will be the average compensation offered to students during campus placements?
I am sure it will be fairly competitive. ₹15 lakh but that is still to be validated decided.