At B-schools, summer time’s back

At top B-schools across the country, after a year of anxiety, the mood is upbeat. Some of the most prestigious finance and banking firms have come to campuses of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other premium business schools to recruit students for summer internships.

At top B-schools across the country, after a year of anxiety, the mood is upbeat.

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Some of the most prestigious finance and banking firms have come to campuses of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other premium business schools to recruit students for summer internships.

IIM-Bangalore (IIM-B), for instance, bagged 180 ‘slot zero’ (first two days) offers for its batch of 348 first-year students for 2010.

IIM-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) had earlier announced that all its students were placed in just four days.

Last year, a batch of 208 students at IIM-A was placed in six days, said Ishita Solanki, head of IIM-A’s Global Partnerships.

Summer placements are significant as many firms have a ‘pre-placement policy’. They take interns and after evaluating their work for a couple of months, often make final offers.

At IIM-B, the entire batch of 348 students, the biggest ever batch at the institute, was recruited within five days by over 150 companies, said Professor P.D. Jose, chairperson of the placement committee.

At IIM-Lucknow (IIM-L), half of the recruiters were from the financial sector, a 25 per cent rise from last year, and the first phase of summer placements saw 250 students being selected for internships, according to a member of media relations committee of IIM-L.

IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C) placed all its 407 students in six days.

“We felt that it would be difficult to place all the students because of the slowdown,” said Prafulla. Y. Agnihotri, chairperson, career development and placement office of IIM-C. “Therefore, we decided to call 140 companies, which is a
record of sorts.”

At National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, 70 per cent of summer placements are over, with 65 companies landing at the institute’s Powai campus. Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, wrapped up its summer placements in two weeks.

(With inputs from PTI)