XLRI: PSUs take up 11% of batch

XLRI: PSUs take up 11% of batch

By States Bureau

Premier B-school XLRI has found placements for 170 of its 178 business management (BM) and personnel management and industrial relations (PMandIR) students in its longest-ever such exercise. The ordeal spanned around 40 days, which is mighty long when compared with a maximum of three to four days the past few years.

Eight students have ventured into the corporate world with their own plans.

This was the first time that public sector units (PSUs) played a major role in the campus recruitment programme (CRP) of the B-school. They picked up 11% of the batch, significant when compared with the numbers in the past.

Only 30 pre-placement offers were made this year to the passing-out batch having working experience behind them. Sixty-three such offers were made last year.

According to Rajiv Misra, faculty chairperson, placement committee, the economic slowdown has compelled companies to be conservative in their recruitment approach.

However, despite the grim economic scenario, most of the jobs offered on the B-school's campus came from the cr me de la cr me of the corporate world. The average annual salary of the batch this year is Rs 12.12 lakh, around 18% less than last year's Rs 14.75 lakh.

The highest offer came from global pharmaceutical major Novartis in the form of an annual compensation of $ 110,000 for an HR leadership role at Basel in Switzerland .

"Challenging years such as these test the fundamentals on which the success of placements of an institute is achieved and the convincing set of placements XLRI has received this year reaffirms its strong footing in the corporate world," said the faculty chairperson.

However, the financial crisis and the consequent slowdown notwithstanding, the B-school remained the financial sector's premier destination. As much as 30% of the offers came from this sector.

Offers in investment banking, treasury, corporate finance, commercial banking and insurance were received. Domestic investment banks were led by Centrum and SBI (SBIN.NS) Capital, while banks such as Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, ICICI (ICICIBANK.NS), Axis Bank and Bank of Baroda offered roles at their treasury and foreign exchange desks and in corporate and retail banking. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) recruited from XLRI for the first time.

XLRI reaffirmed its strength in marketing with 32% of the students accepting the offers made.

Procter and Gamble, Hindustan Unilever, Nokia, Johnson and Johnson, ITC, Pepsi, Amul, Asian Paints and Reckitt and Benckiser offered sales and marketing jobs.

L'Oreal, Titan, Castrol and telecom majors Bharti Airtel (BHARTIARTL.BO) and Virgin Mobile were first-time recruiters.

A 9% increase in acceptances over last year showcased the interest the students showed for marketing jobs.

However, the distinct element in the B-school's recruitment process this year was the active participation of public sector units that ranged from financial institutions such as SBI Capital, Bank of Baroda, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) to top energy players such as Gail (GAIL.NS), BPCL (BPCL.NS), ONGC (ONGC.NS), Coal India Ltd and BHEL (BHEL.NS).