FMS MBA Placement Report

Final Placement @ FMS: Connecting great minds to greater opportunities

“Sans Pareil” is the word that perhaps best describes the Placements 2008 at FMS Delhi as we keep our rendezvous with greatness.

In its 54th year of imparting best-in-class management education to some of the brightest minds of the country, FMS lived up to its expectations of fulfilling the desires of grabbing a profile and job of choice, yet again. The placements were not just a reaffirmation of the faith that the corporate world places in the ability and quality of FMS students, faculty and fraternity but were also insulated from all talks of the downturn of the economy.

141 students of FMS (99 students of the MBA course and 42 students of the MBA-MS course) participated in the process. For the MBA program, the average salary shot up by 27% this year to touch INR 15.31 lakhs per annum, up from the INR 12.04 lakhs per annum last year. The average salary for the MBA-MS program shot up to INR 13.1 lakhs per annum, up from the INR 10.55 lakhs per annum last year, an increase of 24%. The highest domestic salary offered was that of INR 26 lakhs per annum. The highest international salary offered touched an all-time high of USD 105,000 per annum for the profile of a senior brand manager of a leading retail giant based out of Kuwait.

Says Prof.J.K. Mitra, Dean, FMS Delhi, “For the last 54 years, FMS believed in the definition of education provided by Swami Vivekananda 108 years ago; “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in a man”. Recent placement record only reflects the degree of perfection in our products. “

Placement Snapshots (MBA Programme)
The placements across sectors and multiple offers this year lived up to the image and reputation that FMS enjoys in the country. A few snapshots of the placements this year are –

• The average salary of the laterals (individuals with work-ex of more than 18 months) was INR 16.48 lakhs per annum while that of the freshers touched INR 15.03 lakhs per annum.
• Nearly 52% of the batch opted for a career in Finance; marketing was the next preferred choice with 26%; consulting had 16% of the batch taking up offers while for the IT sector, the figure stood at 6%.

• On an average the highest numbers of offers were made by Banks, with an astounding 45 offers. The top 5 recruiters included HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays Bank, BNP Paribas and ICICI with international offers in investment banking, treasury sales, corporate finance, relationship manager, private equity and other niche financial profiles. Consulting giants like McKinsey & Co. and Arthur D. Little also participated in the process. European banks like Barclays and BNP Paribas initiated strong relationships with the campus this year, making several offers. The process also saw participation from private equity players like Avigo Capital Partners and investment banking firms like Avendus Capital. Other consulting firms like Accenture, KPMG, Ernst and Young (E&Y), Stern Stewart & Co., Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and Tata Administrative Services (TAS) also participated in the process and made multiple offers. The year witnessed international participation by leading MNCs like FMC Technologies (France), Lufthansa (Germany), MH Alshaya (Kuwait) and Sharaf Group (Dubai). The Finance sector was very well represented with participation from leading players like ABN Amro, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, IDFC, Yes Bank, Axis Bank, JP Morgan Chase and Lehman Brothers among others. Niche profiles were also offered by SEBI, ICRA Management Consulting, GE (FMP), IREO, IDG Ventures, Dawnay Day AV and Zeus Inframanagement. In addition, roles in Finance were also offered by the leading firms like Procter and Gamble, Reliance, Nestle and Ranbaxy. FMS’ healthy relationship with marketing giants continued this year as well. All FMCG majors in the country made their presence felt with HUL and Procter & Gamble leading the pack. The other big names included Asian Paints, Britannia, Cadbury, ITC, Motorola, Nestle, Dabur, Pepsi, Godrej, Philips, SAB Miller and GSK. The rise of retail as the sunshine sector for the industry manifested itself in the form of Bharti-Walmart, Reliance, RPG Group, Essar Group & Kuwait-based M H Alshaya offering profiles in this segment. Newer profiles were offered by firms like HT Media, Vodafone and MTV Networks. The IT sector also witnessed a good amount of participation with bigwigs like Microsoft, Capgemini, Cognizant, IBM and HCL Technologies making multiple offers.

Placement Snapshots (MBA-MS Programme)
This year proved to be a watershed year in the placements of the MBA (Management of Services) course. The number of companies that confirmed participation saw a steep rise as did the number of coveted and niche profiles on offer to the 2008 batch of MBA (Management of Services) students.

• The major banks recruiting students included HSBC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Yes Bank. Leading financial services companies like Goldman Sachs, Avendus Capital, Stern Stewart & Co, SEBI, Tata Capital, ICRA and ICICI Prudential offered coveted profiles to the students. PepsiCo continued to be a favorite with the students for its marketing profile. Leading companies from the retail and telecom sector including Sharaf Group, Bharti Group, Reliance and Essar Group offered coveted profiles. In addition to companies like Asian Paints and Blowplast, consumer electronics giant Philips recruited for a marketing profile. The IT & IT enabled services sector continued to be a sector of choice for many candidates with a prior IT work-experience. GE made 2 offers for its Global Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP). Other major participants included Microsoft, Cognizant, IBM, KPIT Cummins, Wipro Technologies and QAI. HCL Technologies offered a niche Senior Management Trainee (SMT) profile to the students of the batch.

Off the beaten track

The year also saw students like Neha Juneja decline a plum offer from the coveted Tata Administrative Services (TAS) to form her own venture called aisapaisa.com. The venture is an independent platform for Indian retail investors to come together and aims to give them an unparalleled experience in terms of learning, access to latest market information, collaborating with people with similar financial interests and trading intents – thus standing true to its tagline: Collaborate, Learn, Educate.

Another student of the MBA-MS course, Ravi Pokharna opted out of the placements to pursue his dream of being an entrepreneur. Ravi has presently taken complete control of Delhi operations of PT Education, a national level firm. With 7 centers in Delhi, and a vibrant staff of 64, opportunities abound for him.

Final Word
This placement season saw a lot of students opting for dream profiles and jobs of their choice and even at times reject the lucrative offers. As Prof. Madhu Vij, Convenor, Placement Committee puts it, “The Final Placements 2008 at FMS Delhi bear testimony to the robust and growing Indian corp. sector. The placements displayed in full light the sound academic foundation, strong sense of purpose and an attitude towards excellence of every FMSite. The sheer diversity of the profiles across verticals and sectors this time are indicative of FMS's equity in the industry and the timeless excellence which is its glowing hallmark.”

The placement season is about the fulfillment of dreams of the students and FMS has again managed to achieve the same this year with resounding success.