Ahmedabad: This year, Indian Institute of Management (IIM) campuses were flooded withfirst-time recruiters, especially foreign companies.
As per sources, ChrysCapital, EXL Services and Deutsche Post DHL are some of the names that have visited IIM campuses in search of talent this year. They are also offering 20% more than the average salary notched up by the institutes for positions in some of the fastest-growing economies of the world.
In addition, IIM - Bangalore witnessed a100% rise in first-time recruiters, IIM-Lucknow registered a 60% rise. The rush was similar at the other IIMs, where these recruiters were seen offering jobs in economically-flourishing locations in the Middle East, like Abu Dhabi, and in the Southeast Asian cities of Singapore and Hong Kong.
According toSharadh Venkataraman, recruitment coordinator at the IIM-C said that the turnout of first-time recruiters was indeed unprecedented and much higher this year than in the past few years. First-time recruiters that visited only IIM Calcutta (IIM-C) include international firms like Japanese Investment Bank, Daiwa and the consulting firm Essex Lake Group. He mentioned that the number of new recruiters has gone up to 21 from last year's 15. Moreover, he said that they expect the salaries offered by the new recruiters to be 15-20% higher than the average salary (around Rs 15.6 lakh).
The roles offered by these companies at IIM-C point to an interesting mix. While Daiwa recruited for investment banking positions, Nielsen & Co selected students for their emerging leadership programme in finance. Flipkart attracted students with an entrepreneurial bent of mind and offered roles in various domains. Essex Lake Group and EXL Services recruited students for consulting roles, while Deutsche Post DHL selected candidates for in-house consulting.
Experts believe that the superlative growth in regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia are opening the doors to lucrative job offers. According to the International Monetary Fund, Qatar and Singapore registered a growth of 16% and 14% respectively, in 2010. They were among the fastest growing economies in the world last year.
Besides, sources added that the number of first-time recruiters is far higher at the IIMs of Lucknow, Bangalore and Kozhikode. According to a recruitments cell spokesperson at IIM-Lucknow that last year they had around 32 new recruiters at IIM Lucknow, and this year there has been a more than 60% rise in the number. In addition, students have been hired for positions in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Some new companies visiting IIM-L were Amazon , Microsoft IDC, IIFL, ICICI Securities and Deutsche Post DHL.
IIM Bangalore, which was visited by only 17 new companies last year, saw a 100% increase this time, with companies from Belgium, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, the US and UAE visiting. Among others, ChrysCapital, Nokia, Infosys Consulting , Deutsche Post DHL and Lenovo visited this time.
Sapna Agarwal, Head of IIM-B career development services has said that there is a huge demand for talent and that's the main reason for the rise in the number of first-time recruiters. She said that with the economy doing well, many companies eyeing the future have come hiring. She also added that half the first-timers at IIM-B were from finance.
HR consultants feel overseas recruiters are making a beeline for the IIMs because they have left an impressive footprint in the global markets. According to Sunil Goel, director of the executive search firm, GlobalHunt overseas recruiters who plan to set up base in India or expand existing operations, will normally hire from India, provide overseas exposure and deploy them back to the country
Furthermore, Anuj Kumar, VP, human resources at Fujitsu Consulting India, which hired for the first time from IIM-K, says the company was happy with the quality of talent and will be back to hire in large numbers next year. At the smaller IIMs like Kozhikode, the number of first-timers, or those visiting the campus after a gap of two years, is 38 - about 35% of the total number of companies that came by.
