ALL SET FOR GREAT CAREERS: IIMB graduates Karthik, Savita Pai, Sairam Krishnamurthy and Aadisht Khanna, who were selected at the placement programme, in conversation. — Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash

BANGALORE: An average salary offer of $ 90,000 per annum made by international companies and Rs. 9 lakhs by Indian companies to graduates of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) broke records this year. While the offer of $ 1,93,000 on Day Zero (mainly for firms offering foreign postings) remained unmatched, the highest salary offer made by a domestic company was Rs. 30 lakhs, for an investment banking job. The highest accepted Indian offer was Rs. 16 lakhs, by Goldman Sachs.

IIMB Placement Representative Saurav Bhansal told presspersons here that 26 per cent of the batch of 182 students accepted a position in a consulting career, known for its demand for multi-functional skills in finance, strategy and marketing. McKinsey and Co was the single largest recruiter in this year's placement, inducing nine IIMB graduates into its fold. Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch were the other major recruiters. Deutsche Bank, which picked up five graduates, had a top offer of £ 65,000.

The other sectors that saw a significant number of positions being offered were investment banking (26 per cent), marketing (15 per cent), finance (16 per cent), information technology (13 per cent) and operations and management (six per cent).

Reflecting the institute's maturing global reputation, the placement process attracted several mega firms for the first time. The IIMB campus hosted leading multinationals such as Bain & Co., UBS (Hong Kong, London, Singapore), Merrill Lynch (Hong Kong), Lehman Brothers (London), ABN AMRO (Hong Kong), Baring Private Equity, Bloomberg (New York), Ameriprise Financials (Minneapolis), DPWN (Germany, U.S.), Freudenberg (Germany), Macquarie (Australia), U.S. Tech (New York, California), Globaleprocure and Diamond Cluster.

IIMB created history with nearly 35 per cent graduates of the batch taking up offers from Day Zero firms, a statistic unmatched across the IIMs. The total number of Day Zero offers increased from 41 to 65. The U.K.-based Barclays made the highest overseas offer to IIM students, of $ 193,000 per annum, to Gaurav Agarwal.

For the first time, an Indian bank went to IIMB to recruit personnel for its global locations. ICICI Bank offered positions for its London and Singapore offices. Two graduates opted for the London jobs. Seventy students were recruited on Day One.

International offers continued to pour in on Day Zero, with companies such as Macquarie Bank, RSG Systems, U.S. Tech, Proctor and Gamble and AXA associates recruiting IIMB graduates in big numbers.

A total of 110 companies attended the placements programme, compared with 78 last year. Among the Indian firms were IT majors TCS, Wipro, Infosys and Cognizant.

`Nothing exceptional'

IIMB Director Prakash G. Apte downplayed the high compensation offers and said the increase is "nothing exceptional" in view of the fact that the Indian economy is flourishing.

"This year it has only been a little more than normal," he said.

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