The placement process for the graduating batch of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) has come to a close. All PGP students sitting for placements at IIM Ahmedabad have been placed.

Despite a recessionary year, a larger batch, a new, untested placement process, all students of the batch were placed in the firms of their choice. A total of 110 firms participated in the laterals and final placement process, excluding firms that only extended Pre Placement Offers (PPOs).

 

The cluster-based Placement Process 

True to its reputation of being a change leader, IIM Ahmedabad, took a path-breaking step by introducing a Cohort-based placement process this time around. It was discussed at length by the Placement Committee, the faculty, the students and had the mandate of recruiters even before it was put into place. As envisaged, the process reaped rich results with a far relaxed process that reduced stress on students and ensured better match making for both students and recruiters. The feedback received from all concerned parties has been positive to say the least. We will continue to reengineer the placement process to align with the needs of both the student and the recruiter community. In addition to the regular offer system, IIM Ahmedabad also continued with its tradition of allowing its students to play a “dream” on any firm of their choice even when they held offer(s) in hand.

 

Laterals placement process 

A big push this time came from the laterals placement process. With 53% of the batch eligible, the thrust on lateral placements ensured that students could leverage their experience to the hilt. Firms like Deloitte Consulting, A&M, Yes Bank, TSMG, Cognizant, Aditya Birla Group, Amazon and Philips were some of the major recruiters during the process. More than 40 firms participated in the laterals process and extended more than 100 offers, an increase of 4 times over last year.

 

Cluster 1 – A test of character 

Since Cohort based process was a drastic change from the way placements have been conducted across Indian B-schools, Cluster 1 was an acid test for us. We were cautiously optimistic but left no stone unturned in the preparation for the first cluster (13-14 February, 2010). The results were very positive with more than 40 offers extended by Global Strategy Consulting firms, Global Niche Consulting firms, Global Investment Banks and Global Private Equity firms, the four cohorts that constituted this cluster. Mckinsey & Co (8 acceptances including pre-placement offers), The Boston Consulting Group (8 acceptances including pre-placement offers), Monitor Group (5 acceptances), Bain and Company, Booz and Company, AT Kearney and Oliver Wyman were went back satisfied with the quality of students recruited from IIMA.