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Small companies up talent bar, scout IIMs
for hiring
Kirtika Suneja, Diksha Dutta
Posted: Thursday, Mar 24, 2011 at 0132 hrs IST
New Delhi: Jaipur Rugs, a company with an
Rs 70-crore sales and 400 employees, hired two students from
IIM lucknow this year. Another student from IIM Ahmedabad is
in the process of being hired. The salary wasn’t great
either — just Rs 40,000 per month —pointing to the rising
aspirations of small and medium enterprises, which are now
scouting the corridors of elite B-schools to enhance talent
quality. This year, the number of small and medium companies
visiting Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) has
increased by 14-16% as compared to last year.
Flipkart, an e-commerce company founded in 2007 with an
R80-crore turnover, recruited 12 IIM graduates this year.
“It is very important that we hire talent from top B-schools
as they bring with them the ability to learn afresh,
innovate and simplify the current challenges we face while
making e-commerce happen in India,” says Sachin Bansal,
founder, Flipkart, adding that IIM Bangalore was the only B
school they visited last year, but this time they have
successfully completed campus hiring from IIM A, B and C.
The company made the 12 offers across various verticals like
business development, supply chain management and product
development.
 Offering
flexibility and better profiles as their USPs, there were
other companies like Insta Group, Hyderabad Industries,
Tally Solutions and more which tried to lure the best talent
at the top B-schools.
And, people like 26-year-old Soham Bandyopadhyay, who
graduated from IIM Calcutta this year, fell for it. Not
short of job offers, Bandyopadhyay opted for an expanded
work portfolio in a relatively small company, Insta Group.
What attracted him was the flexibility to apply his skills
to different segments, plus the fact that the job offer came
with a salary on a par with his peers at IIM.
The 550 employee-strong Insta Group, a trade show and
marketing events organiser founded in 2003 that today stands
at a valuation of Rs 200 crore, went to IIM for the first
time this year. Almost 100 students applied for the firm and
four were selected. Ranjan Banerjee, company director and
COO, says they are trying to build a company brand on the
campus and plan to go to all the IIMs next year. “People who
were looking for an entrepreneur streak and wanted freedom
to work took our placement,” he says.
“In all, we have hired 15 students from various B schools,
including from tier-II institutes such as Welingkar
Institute of Managementand IIMT Ghaziabad,” he adds.
Banerjee, however, confesses that while they offered
business development profiles to students from other B
schools, IIM students were offered designations of corporate
planning manager or online marketing manager with a CTC of
R13 lakh per annum. Tally Solutions also picked up four
students from IIM Indore this year, offering a package of Rs
10 lakh. Siddharth Setia, secretary, student placement
committee of IIM Indore, gets in the students’ perspective.
“Traditionally, students used to chase packages, but after
the slowdown, they have started looking at better profiles
too, which mid-tier companies offer. Moreover, the salary
gap also no longer exists.” But money is not all that
matters, as seen in the case of Jaipur Rugs. Sanjay Singh,
company senior HR manager, says, “Our organisation needed
people who could bring in a system of functioning like MNCs
and so we went to IIM this year. We promised these students
a challenging entrepreneurial experience, which attracted
them.” The unconventional had its pull too. Since the
company is into a lot of work that involves the rural
experience, Jaipur Rugs attracted those who were sick of
congested cubicles. The company has been hiring from B
schools like IRMA, BHU, XIM Bhubaneswar and TISS for the
past few years . Known for hiring fresh graduates in large
numbers, the BPO industry is also not far behind. For
instance, EXL Service made 20-25 offers at IIMs this year,
much higher as compared to seven-eight last year. Sanjay
Gupta, EXL HR head, explains that the company is focusing a
lot on its KPO business comprising transformational deals,
for which they needed analytical and knowledge-based skills.
Also, their packages are competitive·Rs 10-15 lakh depending
on the experience of the students.
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