The Maya of B-School Salary

- by Dr. Madhukar Shukla

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Similarly, stock options, market value of chamari accommodation, medical insurance entitlement (e.g., if one is insured for Rs. 2 lac by the company, that also goes into calculating the entitlements), etc. - or even the market value of infrastructure provided to you (office space, PC, etc.) can be - and sometimes are - part of CTC... A few years back, one MNC bank had given an offer of Rs. 9.0 lacs/annum to one of the students; of which Rs 6.0 lacs was for the rental value of a flat in Malabar Hills, which the bank was providing for her accommodation!!!
(To be fair, now many companies do share both the CTC and take-home salary, but somehow the CTC occupies a larger mindshare)

Moreover, it is very rare that a student has actually studied the company s/he is applying for, for the job - information about the company is normally gathered through pre-placement talks (which most B-school students abhor to attend, and which often also present a pretty white-washed picture of the company), through feedback from their seniors who may have joined those companies, or through their own, or their batchmates' summer training experience in that company. Sometimes, the media reports (including the Best Employer Surveys, Best Place to Work, etc.) - specially, those published during last one year - also play a role.

But ultimately, the choice is determined by the salary package, since, under the peer-pressure during the "Placement Season", the salary also becomes a - one may say, the only - measure of one's self-worth.

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* Contributed by -
Dr. Madhukar Shukla,
Professor (OB & Strategic Management),
XLRI Jamshedpur.