Why B-School grads prefer consulting

The economy’s booming, jobs are flowing and campuses are gearing up for a year that’s shaping up to be the icing on three years of bullish placements. Students this year are in the driver’s seat. Assured of multiple offers, they’re free to be adventurous with their career choices.

“The confidence that the market gives you is a driving factor in your adventurous spirit and could change your decisions. With so many companies recruiting, people tend to say let me wait for the right profile,” says Manish Bhagat, a member of the IIM Indore placement committee.

That’s possibly one of the factors that has pushed old favourites like FMCG, software and IT consulting down a rung in the ranking charts. The most favoured sectors on campus for the batch of ’06 are the all-weather consulting industry at number one, with foreign banks coming in second. Next up is FMCG, software /IT consulting and financial institutions.

After losing ground in the previous year, retailing is back in the reckoning in ’06 moving up three spots to number six. The top 10 industries of choice are rounded off with Indian banks, auto, media/entertainment and insurance. Telecom and consumer durables two sectors that were in the reckoning last year, have fallen out of the top 15 industries of choice for the class of ’06.

These are the results of the ACNielsen Campustrack B-school survey, which polled the class of ’06 on their perceptions about recruiting companies and the factors used to evaluate prospective employers. The survey was conducted among the top 21 B-schools in India.

“We have seen that the perceived ‘vibrancy’ of a given sector has a definite bearing on its attractiveness to the talent pool. While last year saw the telecom sector on the rise, the hectic activity in retail banking and retailing fuelled by an upswing in the economy and consumer spending has played its part this year,” says Prasenjit Das, associate director, client service, ACNielsen ORG-MARG.

Consulting in particular is on everyone’s list. Not only is the industry a hot favourite, but consultants McKinsey, The Boston Consulting Group and Accenture are the 1, 2 and 3 most preferred companies of the year.

“Now there is a lot more information on campus about different choices. There’s transparency and people are making more informed decisions,” says Vikram Bhalla, principal, BCG.

Mr Bhalla points to the constant flow of correspondence between students and the firm as a sign of greater student maturity. This means that student perception — shaped by the experiences of seniors and corporate interactions on campus — are playing a wider role in placement choices than ever before.

“I think BCG is clearly the best choice in consulting and over time it’ll get clearer and clearer,” he said, commenting of the firm’s consistent rise up the rankings from number 10 in ’03. BCG’s decision to recruit summer interns this year has also gone some way in boosting its image at B-schools.

Another important factor is growth perception. In direct contrast to Hindustan Lever’s fall from grace (the company fell from number 2 last year to five in ’06) is the rise of Accenture. The management services and technology consulting company has rocketed from number 8 on the class of ’05’s list to number 3 this year.

According to Accenture-India HR head Rahul Varma, the firm’s strong growth credentials have played a role. Over the past four years, Accenture has grown from a 200-strong company to employing over 15,000 people. The company has also diversified from consulting into IT delivery and BPO.

“We are hiring across a wide spectrum of roles. And given our track record of growth, most campuses have been bullish about receiving us,” he says.

Next on the list is foreign banks. And if investment banks and MNC banks are clubbed together this category fills a total of seven places on the top 15 list. HSBC takes the lead, followed by Citi Group (6), Goldman Sachs (8), American Express, Deutsche Bank, Lehman Brother and ABN Amro.

“Banking and finance has emerged as one of the most attractive job sectors for management graduates this year, given the rapid growth rate in the industry and the range of jobs available to meet career growth aspirations,” said an HSBC spokesperson.

“The students view banking as a sector that can provide larger job responsibilities at an early stage and an opportunity to work overseas, which students clearly prefer at the start of their careers.”

Interestingly, students say there’s another reason why foreign banks are attractive. Many secretly view a retail or corporate profile with an MNC bank as the opportunity for back-door entry in i-banking.

“There’s a good chance that if you’re spotted they’ll move you laterally in the i-banking arm,” says one student.

That apart, students point to profiles, work ethic and salaries as the main draws with MNC banks. Indian banks, which are currently ranked way below their MNC counterparts at number seven, should become more competitive over the next three-four years, say students, as positive feedback from seniors is beginning to alter the perception about local banks.

This year, however, ICICI Bank joined Microsoft as the two companies that fell out of the Top 15 charts, making way for Deutsche Bank and ABN Amro

How Much Is My Blog Worth?

My blog, ideasunlimited.blogspot.com/, is worth $564.54

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?