Multiple offers for IIM Calcutta students now!

By Ruchi Shrimali

Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta has decided to introduce to a functional preferences systems for its summer placements this year, which are about to begin on November 5. The new system will allow students to secure multiple job offers and then choose the best one, according to their career goals. Earlier, the students could accept only one offer at a time and thus, had to accept or refuse the job offer on the spot.

IIM Calcutta’s new placement process will be more drawn out to allow students to consider sectors in which they want to enter, evaluate the roles they are offered and then, make informed decisions about the right job for them. The students will not have to accept the first offer they receive anymore, and will get a day’s time to decide which company they want to join, reported Business Standard.

The companies will also get a chance to select the best-suited candidates from the available talent pool at the institute.

Earlier this year, IIM Ahmedabad too had introduced changes in its placement process. Two years ago, it had moved from the traditional day-based placement process to cohort-based system. The new system was further modified this year to shorten gaps between two cohorts and shorten the placement process.

The day-based placement process used to take four to six days. In it, employers were assigned slots according to their profiles and salaries or packages they offered. In this students usually fell into the trap of accepting the highest salary they are offered. Those who did care about the kind of career they want were forced to either accept an offer and move out of placement offer, or refuse it and apply for their dream job - which they might or might not be able to crack. Since students had to interview with several possible recruiters at a time, the companies and students did not get enough time to interact and know each other well.

In the cohort-based placement system, a group of similar companies from the same industry offering similar profiles and packages visited the campus on the same day. This will allow students to choose to participate in the cohort which matches their preferences and career aspirations. This year, the gap between two cohorts at IIM-A was reduced to about two days to hasten the placement process.

It seems that Indian management institutes are finally growing out of the placement-hype and taking the lead to guide their graduates to the right career paths.

What do you think about the new developments in the placement processes at IIM Calcutta and IIM Ahmedabad?