B-Schools hike stipends by 20% despite meltdown

Despite fears of an uncertain economic environment, students of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) expect a rise in stipends by 15-20 per cent during summer placements this year.

With leading companies showing a continued interest in hiring interns in spite of a meltdown, students are optimistic of drawing attractive offers. Nitin KV, recruitment coordinator with IIM Lucknow, said, "Besides long time recruiters, there are a lot of first timers as well. We expect that the stipends, particularly in consulting, marketing and general management sectors, will increase by 15-20 per cent this year."

IIM Ahmedabad is also looking forward to a robust summer placement season. "Students are looking forward to a good summer placement as we had attractive offers during final placements in March," a member of the student placement committee, said. Students are also looking forward to winding up the placement season early this year by considering domestic companies over their international counterparts. "Diversity of Indian companies offering internships has increased. Students are quite inclined towards domestic companies, which offer better roles," said professor Kulbhushan Balooni, chairperson-placements at IIM Kozhikode.

Of late, business schools have also seen a spike in students opting for startups over leading brands.

"Students are not tempted by salary packages now. A large chunk wants to join startups, which offer them varied, larger roles and allow them to contribute more to the growth of the organization as compared to traditional roles offered by established companies," said Balooni.

Demand for startups is also an indication that students are keen on taking up entrepreneurship amid slowdown. About 75 per cent students at IIM Kozhikode have expressed interest in interning at startups. In order to attract more startups, IIM Kozhikode is not charging placement fees from these ventures.

"Students are aware of the expected low hiring in multinationals and are keen on broader roles in startups. We have been trying to reach out to several alumni who are running their own start-ups for guidance," said Vibhu Kapoor, coordinator, placement committee at IIM Indore.

Nessa Illumination Technologies, an Ahmedabad-based startup, which hired two students from IIM Ahmedabad for business development activities, is also in talks with IIM Kozhikode. "A lot of systems are not in place in a startup and these students can help us with marketing, an area where they can impress the clients very well," said Akshat Khare, founder, Nessa.

The summer placement process at institutes begins in the first week of November. Xavier School of Management (XLRI), Jamshedpur has also seen a spurt in new sectors like ecommerce and technology this year. However, XLRI is expecting only a single digit percentage rise in stipends this year.

"Companies are a bit reserved in terms of hiring and we are not aiming at the stars this year. We do not see companies in finance sector making many offers," said placement coordinator at XLRI.