IIM grad snapped up for Rs 1.4 cr in big job deal

Ahmedabad: Despite anxieties and rumours about reduced salary packages due to the subprime crises and the worldwide economic recession, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has registered a whopping Rs 1.44 crore salary offer, which is the highest in all the IIMs in India, at the end of final placement process, which began on March 6 and ended here on Tuesday.

According to Dr SK Barua, Director, IIMA, the process, which saw participation of over 90 firms, reaffirmed the status of the institute as the premier destination for recruiters in India. The highest salary offer is made by foreign companies.

Given the adverse market conditions, the salaries offered to IIM-A students this year have been exceeded all expectations.

The average domestic salary amongst the accepted offers this year is Rs 17.85 lakhs, a 30 per cent jump from last year's average figure of Rs 13.7 lakhs.

The average international salary is $1,19,000, which is higher than previous years.

In lateral placement, 37 firms participated. Average salary for the laterals process as a whole saw an increase from Rs 16.2 lakhs, last year to Rs 18.3 lakhs, this year.

Eleven students opted out of the placement system to start thier own ventures. Even though the geographical distribution of offers extended by the firms remains the same, students have shown a distinctive trend to work in the emerging market economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Despite the grim situation in international financial markets, a total of 113 students, out of a batch of 255, will be joining the financial sector this year.

Major banks to recruit students of the batch of 2008 include Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanely, JP Morgan, Merill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Barclays among others.

In a break from the past, the much coveted slot zero saw consulting firms emerge as the most preferred destination for students.

For the first time, many of the coveted slot 0 consulting firms offered international positions across US and Europe.

Consulting majors Monitor Group and Oliver Wyman made their first appearance at the process and received nine and five acceptances respectively.