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Top companies gun for ISB graduates

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

It may be troubled times elsewhere. But at the Indian School of Business, things are brightening up. According to ISB officials, economic downturn notwithstanding, placements are going on fine.

In its very first placement season, the ISB campus at Gachibowli on the outskirts of Hyderabad has seen 41 premium recruiters so far, making 134 offers, of which 103 are lateral and 83 are unique offers.

"ISB's USP (unique selling point) has always been that it is the first Indian campus, which is a source of quality lateral hires, and this differentiates it from other premium Indian B-schools," said Suresh Vaidyanathan, director (communications), at the ISB.

"The average experience of ISB students of the founding class stands at 4-6 years. Our claim has been borne out by the fact that the bulk of the students have been recruited at several notches higher than entry level, with positions ranging from senior managers to global business development managers to country heads.

"Montreal-based transnational Bombardier, for instance, has recruited an ISB student to head up its new forays in India," he points out.

While there were 99 domestic offers, ISB's global offers stand at 31, which include offers made by Indian companies for global operations as well as those by overseas companies.

The global recruiters include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Novartis (Switzerland) for its global operations, Bombardier, Capital One, InfoUSA and Symphony Ventures.

These apart, Infosys, Satyam, NIIT and Dr Reddy's Laboratories are among the domestic companies which have recruited for overseas positions.

The domestic recruiters include luminaries such as GE, GE Capital, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Infosys, Hindustan Lever, Coca Cola, Glaxo-SmithKline, Hughes Software Systems, Whirlpool Corporation, ICICI, Godrej-Sara Lee, Gillette India, ITC, HDFC and Reliance Infocom, among others.

The average Indian salary offered has been a healthy Rs 835,000, while the average global salary is US $ 70,000.

The highest domestic salary is Rs 2.8 million, while the highest global salary offered is $ 95,000, though this will be upped considerably once the ISB receives the Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Capital One figures.

"The ISB's placement model is uniquely differentiated. The school has rolling placement, which is distinctive from the practice of 'placement week' followed by other B-schools.

"At ISB, we are open for 3 days - Friday, Saturday and Sunday-every week, for placement-related activities and do not generally allow recruiters on other days.

We allow for off-campus interviews and multiple rounds, as the hires from ISB are largely lateral," explains Vaidyanathan.

"We have been open from January 11, for 3 days every week and were closed for 10 days for end-term examinations between February 1 and 10.

"We do not have a closing date and placements, could, technically go on till June.

"The model is designed especially with the recruiters' needs in mind, as it gives them sufficient time with candidates.

"We also do not have a ranking system of companies, but give slots out on a first-come, first-serve basis. So, our achievements are interim, and we expect to have a very impressive showing indeed, by the time our students graduate in June," he points out.

The ISB's first post-graduate programme began in July 2001 with 130 students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds.

The students of the founding class will complete their last term on June 21 this year. The students of the second batch will start Term I from May 13.

Promoted by top Indian corporate houses and MNCs, including Fortune-500 companies, ISB's governing board comprises of business leaders, entrepreneurs and academicians from some of the world's leading business and management education institutions.

ISB has formal affiliations with the Kellogg School of Management, the Wharton School -- both of the US, and London Business School.

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