“Placement day at a top b school in India”
I stared into the darkness as its fascinating sight and aroma beckoned me closer and closer to explore its depths. As the sheer flavour of the liquid rose in the form of vapour and engulfed my nostrils, I lost all my inhibitions. With wild abandon, I pressed my lips to the edge of the cup and embraced the blistering hot concoction as it numbed my tongue with its heat. Soon, the heat faded, and the malted taste slithered over my taste buds as I reveled in silent ecstasy.
“Dude, you have been staring at that coffee for a long time! I have to rush,” remarked my friend as he pulled the coat over his shoulder and his tie hung loose from his neck.
“Ah, it’s your big day brother!” I retorted in my coffee-laden impulsiveness.
“Well, one of the many big days. These people somehow seem to have some kind of repulsion towards me. Microsoft probably did not like my hair, while Cognizant may have found the beard a bit too much.”
“Why do you say that, my friend?” I remarked as I prepared myself for another coffee-induced moment of ecstasy.
“Well, I am not sure what the problem is. I am a nice guy! I mean, I might have bunked a few classes here and there, and a few semester exams, but I love technology man. You remember Poko, right! Man, she was my baby! I spent three weeks crafting that robot dog of mine. But no, these companies want something more, it seems. I’m just not able to figure it out.”
“Well, that is why I opted for the financial sector. You can play your way around them with smooth talk and finesse. The technology buffs need to know your technical skills so they might not go for freeloaders like you.”
As I watched him struggle with the tie, I offered him one last piece of advice before he went for the interview. “Brother, take Poko with you. She might impress them!”
“I sold her bro, part by part. Had to pay for the fees, man,” he screamed as he rushed off into the pale grey building.
As I mulled over the coffee, I could not help but think about the entire placement scenario. This propelled me deeper into the prospect of understanding this intricate process. Thus, began an eventful day.
A comparative case-study of top B Schools in India:
I started pondering over my friend’s lament and tried to understand what exactly I was missing out on. My research led me to a point where the only way forward was to go “full-statistical” with my concerns. When in doubt, go mathematical on that pesky little question that just refuses to fade. This is what I found through my travels into the statistical depths of placements at top MBA colleges in India.
Well, by the looks of these figures, I was left a bit spellbound. I felt like I was somehow viewing only half of the picture. This urged me to dig deeper and understand the changing trends in the placement scenario. Just to give you an insight into the world of placements, let me tell you a small but alarming fact:
PRAQTISE Fact File: According to a survey conducted by the website mbauniverse.com, it was seen that as far as average salary is concerned, most institutes are lying to us. According to the website, most institutes, including the best ones, mix both foreign as well as domestic placement figures to inflate the average salary figure. What this means is that by clubbing foreign salary estimates which are converted to rupees, in the end, the institutes can showcase much higher figures than the actual estimates. This is usually a gimmick used by most institutions to garner media attention.
This fact took me a bit aback, as I reeled back to my friend’s lament. He was an outlier but he had thoroughly grasped the CAT syllabus and exceled his way into this institute with great performances in various MBA entrance exams. The important element in this particular case was that I needed a more solid piece of evidence that could help me understand the trends of average salaries in top b schools in India. So, I decided to use the figures mentioned above to check the percentage increase in average CTC from 2015 to 2016. This way I had a more concrete basis for comparison. Here’s the analysis for you in a glimpse:
| Name of the Institute | % increase in average CTC |
| IIM-A | NA |
| IIM-B | 23.71 |
| IIM-C | 11.64 |
| XLRI | 8.82 |
| FMS, Delhi | 20.31 |
| IIM-K | 14.61 |
| IIM, Rohtak | 0.34 |
| JBIMS | 4.08 |
| IIM, TRICHY | 0.00 |
| SPJIMR, Mumbai | 5.60 |
| NMIMS, Mumbai | 3.51 |
| IIM, Raipur | 9.64 |
| SIBM, Pune | 9.04 |
| IMI, Delhi | 51.83 |
On this note, I found a direct contradiction to the start of our conversation. In almost all cases, the colleges that I had researched about had seen an increase in the average salary. This meant a direct increase in the quality and number of placements as well. Somehow, my friend’s lament seemed a bit misguided here, owing to the fact that there was a definite increase in the scope of getting placed, at least for the top b schools in India.
A PRAQTICAL Look: Most people consider placements to be a time when you have to put on your best attire and have a whole folder full of achievements, along with more than one personality development books in your bag. However, sometimes all you need is the passion for your realm of study. For instance, a student from NIT Trichy, named Aanand Srinivas talked about a friend of his who got placed into his dream automobile company, even though the entire campus had labeled him as an outlaw. He was an individual who was more inclined towards watching races and taking apart automobiles, than rote learning from engineering books like the others.
The case of this passionate student gave me a whole new perspective towards the conversation that sparked my research into placements in the first place. My friend also seemed to fit into this same category of outlaws, who have no hope of surviving any placement process. The immense stigma associated with this may have caused him to develop the lamenting perspective that he carried around. It’s a good thing that companies have also started to pay heed to outlaws and unconventional students.
As more and more companies are expanding their avenues in terms of eligibility, one cannot help but wonder how the placement process will evolve in the future. The trend for now shows that there is security in terms of placements for intellectual experts as well as for outlaws & freeloaders at top B-schools.
What do you think about the recent placement trends for MBA courses? Share your opinions in the comment section.
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