MBA Placement 2006 - IIM Lucknow

With a graduating batch of 249 students to be placed this year and positive signals from the economy, IIM Lucknow went into final placements with an air of optimism. This optimism crystallized into reality at the end of slot three, as there was widespread jubilation on campus with the hallowed mark of hundred percent placements being reached rather effortlessly.

Placements began in November, with companies awarding Pre-Placement Offers (PPO) to their summer interns. The number of PPOs was 30, up from last year’s figure. The Higher Entry Placement Programme (HEPP) provides an opportunity for students with prior work experience to get choice jobs. This year saw a record of 105 offers in HEPP, compared to 65 last year. The success of lateral placements was unprecedented, given the widespread industry experience of IIM Lucknow students. Major recruiters in HEPP were Goldman Sachs, Headstrong Consulting, TSMG, Hinduja Group, JP Morgan, Reliance, Atos Origin and IBM.

There were 491 offers made to 249 students, including 24 international offers. Final placements this year saw a number of consulting firms like McKinsey & Co., Ernst & Young, Accenture, Deloitte Consulting, KPMG, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, TSMG and Bristlecone visiting the campus.

IIM Lucknow continued to attract the best organizations in the banking and financial sector and these companies offered a wide spectrum of roles for the students. The major recruiters in this sector included Baring Private Equity Partners, Lehman Brothers, Edelwiess Capital, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, BRICS Securities, Citigroup, Bank of America, Standard Chartered Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank.

As has been a trend in the past, placements in the field of sales and marketing attracted the best organizations in the world. Corporates such as P&G, HLL, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline, Astro-Usaha Tegas Group, Jumbo Group, Tata Group, ITC, Pepsi, Coke, and Cadbury recruited students in large numbers to spearhead their marketing initiatives.

This year also saw the first ever Agri Business Management batch passing out with flying colours. Various organizations participating in the ABM placement process were ITC, Infosys Technologies, Reliance Industries, ICICI Prudential, DCM Sriram, Godrej Agrovet, ICICI Bank and Murugappa Group among others.

Placements at IIM Lucknow witnessed two key trends this year - firstly a spiking increase in the most coveted consulting and i-Banking jobs and secondly the increase in the number of students opting to start a venture on their own. Nine students including the batch topper signed out of the placement process to start new ventures. This trend clearly highlights the excellent pedagogy, competencies and values that students acquire at IIM Lucknow. With the economy on a high, these students are bound to make the best out of it and lead the way towards a progressive nation. With this year’s placements, IIM Lucknow has yet again reinforced its presence in the Ivy League B-schools in the country and has proven to be a preferred destination for organizations which handpick not more than 2-3 B-schools to recruit from. If the trend continues, IIM Lucknow students are bound to leave their footmarks on the global landscape and make the nation proud.