The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta closed its summer placement program on the 23rd of January after successfully placing the entire batch. The summer placements this year were outstanding in terms of the number of firms that recruited from the campus and the width of projects they offered across various functional areas. As in the past few years, IIM Calcutta was the first IIM to place everyone inspite of the fact that it has the largest batch of students across the country. It reinforces the strong recruiter perception that IIM Calcutta has always enjoyed.

Some facts and figures about Summers 2003:

A total of 77 firms participated in the process. These included ABN Amro, American Express, Asian Paints, Bank of America, Britannia, Cadbury, Citibank, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Colgate Palmolive, Coca Cola, CRISIL, Deutsche Bank, DSP Merrill Lynch, Eli Lilly, GE Capital, Glaxo SmithKline, Hewitt, HSBC (Investment and Commercial Banking), IBM, ICICI, IDBI, Infosys, ITC, JM Morgan Stanley, Johnson & Johnson, KSA Technopak, Lehman Brothers, Marico, Murugappa, Nestle, Orbitech, Pepsi, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Procter & Gamble, Ranbaxy, Reckitt Benckiser, RPG, Standard Chartered, SRF, TAS, TCS, Unilever, UTI Bank, Wipro and Wockhardt among others. A number of new firms participated. To name a few: Evalueserve, Aviva, Fritolay and National Kidney Foundation (Singapore).

A total of 20 foreign offers were made.

The sectoral break-up of summer internships is as follows:

• Marketing: 33%
• Finance: 30%
• IT: 16%
• Operations and SCM: 15%
• Consulting: 6%

Insurance firms and NGOs made a foray into summers recruitment and it is hoped that this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful association between IIMC and these firms. Sectors, which made strong comeback after having a relatively quiet couple of years, included Automobile, IT Consulting and Manufacturing.

Inspite of the fact that the I-banking sector is undergoing serious restructuring, 11 students have been placed in summer internships in this sector, testimony to strong recruiter perception of IIMC not just nationally but internationally.

Finals 2003

As one walks into the Placement Office of IIMC, there is an air of quiet optimism, which pervades the place as it enters into the crucial Placement month. A series of initiatives taken to make the process a resounding success, gives IIMC an edge over other B-schools in the country.

IIMC has striven to make use of its extensive alumni network across the country and the world to further enhance its attractiveness to would-be recruiters.

A unique feature of IIMC is the industry participation in its curricular program. Firms like HLL, PwC, and Wipro conduct courses that are a part of the PGP program. Many others like Asian Paints, Citibank, Nestle, CRISIL and Deutsche Bank conduct workshops or talks in areas like LSCM, Risk Analysis and the like. This is yet another feature of IIMC's curriculum which makes it a favorite with recruiters.

The number of firms participating in the Final placements process has shown a steady rise over the years. In 2002, 88 firms had taken part in the process, which was an increase of 30% over the previous year. 2003 promises to be no different. Apart from the number of firms, it is the increasing breadth of the kind of firms and the nature of jobs being offered, which is noteworthy. Another feature of IIMC's student profile, which makes it an attractive destination for recruiters, is the strong presence of candidates with significant work experience. With 85 students having 2 or more years of work-experience before MBA, a lot of emphasis is being placed this year on the Lateral Placements.

As the academic session comes to a close, there is excitement in the air as students look forward to another successful recruiting season and along with it, the opportunities they dreamt of when they first entered campus 20 months back.

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