The placements results exceeded expectations this year with over 98 companies responding to the call for participation. As usual the maximum number of offers were in the field of Finance and Banking. First time in history of FMS - the number of IT offers nearly equaled Marketing / FMCG companies’ offers.

Total number of candidates eligible for placements for the 2004 was 76. The final placements process started on the 10th of February, 2004. The highest Indian offer on campus was Rs. 13 lacs by HSBC. Notable international companies that participated are Olam International (Singapore based), Temasek Holdings (Singapore based) and Deutsche Bank (from Singapore). Olam International made the highest international offer of $65,000. Deutsche Bank made the offer over a Video-Conference Interview. New companies in the general category include Birla Management Corporation.

Among the regular recruiters were :

Placement Statistics

Candidates eligible for lateral placement had to have over 24 months of industry experience. Lateral process was conducted separately for the candidates with work experience to allow greater time for interaction with companies

The finals follow a very successful summer’s internship placement season that concluded in September 2003. HLL made the highest number of offers, which were 7 followed by Citibank picking up 6 candidates.

Though this year Finance dominated with a share of 39% of the offers, we are also very happy to see the top Marketing / FMCG firms picking up students by record numbers. The trend this year is the increasing role of IT companies in the campus. But, as far as the overall statistics go we see a good balance between Finance, Marketing / FMCG and IT companies.

I have often been asked what we do best at FMS. Most expect us to answer that we try to be the best in Finance or Marketing, Strategy or Human Resources, Technology or Organisational Behavior. We of course do all that, but, I believe that all these are just the means - not the end in itself. It is more appropriate to say that we try our best to give our students opportunities. Opportunity to be leaders, managers, team players, entrepreneurs and above all responsible corporate citizens.

Blinding fast change is a reality - more so today than ever before, but it is our sincere belief that quality never goes out of fashion. And this comes not just from sound academic foundation but also a strong sense of purpose, self-belief and attitude towards excellence. It is here that we at FMS concentrate our efforts and succeed the most. No matter what we are managing - what takes us ahead is our approach towards challenges - our thinking, our attitude towards technology and its repercussions on our people.

The Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi made a modest beginning with a three year part-time Post graduate management programme in Business Administration for senior and middle level executives in 1954. The first set of professors was trained at the Stanford University Business School and institute was started at the Delhi School of Economics under the leadership of Prof A. Dasgupta. FMS rewards initiative, novelty and thinking outside the box. The students are individualists of enormous intellectual energy with a talent for collaboration and teamwork. We are a diverse lot, possessing flair and dynamism that develops in a metropolis like Delhi and thrives on challenges both inside and outside the classroom. Corporate recruiters value our graduates for their intellectual abilities, their collaborative mind-set, their individuality and their ability to hit the ground running.

A variety of teaching and learning techniques are employed to impart knowledge and skills to students at FMS. Lectures, case analysis, simulation games and exercises, syndicates, group discussions and practical project work are commonly used to develop conceptual, analytical and decision making skills and to prepare the students to face the challenges of the complex business and organisational environment. Performance assessment is through a continuous system of tests, quizzes, mid-term and semester-end examination to ensure highest academic standards as well as practical orientation.

Press Release on Placements 2004 - Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi

It could not have been a more eventful placement season. 2004 is the year when FMS is celebrating 50 years of its inception. The "feel good" factor manifested itself in the recruitments with top companies picking up record numbers. It was congratulations everywhere as well as frantic calls to companies not to come as the batch was placed well before 50% of the participating corporate had even reached the campus.

Says an over joyous Ritu Tripathi, who got recruited by Deutsche Bank through a process conducted over a video-conference from Singapore - "It’s a dream come true - A training stint at UK followed by a multiple international stints across South East Asia is something I am really excited about".

"The most notable thing about placements this year was the range of options candidates had to choose from. Over 2.3 Job offers per students implied that many had an option of choosing amongst 3 offers" adds Shwetam Sinha, Placement Secretary 2004 who is soon to join Infosys Technologies as a consultant at a lateral hire. FMS conducted its lateral process separately in the month of December. The advantage was that this allowed companies and students to spend a longer time with each other which translated into more satisfying experience for the 25% of the candidates who had more than 24 months industry work experience. The benefit of this reflected in their getting selected into higher positions than entry-level management graduates.

The 2004 Placements at FMS received an overwhelming response from the top-level firms from all over the country. Finance and Marketing / FMCG firms as usual were the top recruiters with HLL and Citbank leading the pack like before. While last year it was Marketing / FMCG that offered the maximum numbers, this year Finance offers clearly dominated. An interesting trend being noticed is the increasing percentage of engineers and professionals. While in 2003 batch the percentage of Engineers was 48%, the batch of 2004 had approx. 56% engineers while the batch of 2005 has upto 70% engineers. The strength of fair sex remained at 30% of the batch strength. As expected work experience was a factor that companies took cognizance of. Clearly the maturity of year’s benefits when it comes to placements as a candidate with work experience is considered able to hit the ground running. Its not that work experience needed to be directly related to the job on offer; as long as the candidate displayed the maturity to take up responsibility - he /she was clearly a premium candidate.

However don’t think that being a fresher is a disadvantage at FMS. Nivi Jaswal, who completed her undergraduate degree in Psychology & was amongst the first of the young ones to get the much coveted Pre-placement offer from Hindustan Levers Limited, exclaims - " FMS presents a unique and enriching experience of studying in a diverse pool in terms of educational backgrounds, regions and work experience - Engineers, doctors, architects, armed forces personnel to fresh graduates. Its not just what is taught with in the classrooms but also the experience of leadership while participating in the various responsibilities that the faculty provides us with which grooms us to face the challenges of the corporate world. The small batch size ensures that each individual can carve her own unique niche".

But then there was also Gautam Karmakar who got a lateral offer from Tata Motors and could immediately apply his experience of managing assembly manufacture in a Japanese Auto major for more than 2 years while Sujit Kispotta who got a lateral offer as Director - Operations at a leading ITES sector organization has a background of nearly 6 years of managing operations in a leading steel company.

Select list of companies that made offers on the campus:

ABN Amro Bank
Citibank N.A.
Citi Financial
Deutsche Bank (First time on Campus)
Fidelity Investments(First time on Campus)
GE
IL & FS
JP Morgan Chase (First time on Campus)
HSBC
SBI Capital
Standard Chartered Bank

Information and Technology

IBM Consulting (First time on Campus)
Infosys Technologies (First time on Campus)
Polaris
Satyam
vCustomer (First time on Campus)
Wipro Technologies

Asian Paints
Asian PPG (First time on Campus)
Cadbury
Colgate Palmolive
Dabur India Ltd.
Glaxo Smithkline
Hindustan Lever Limited
ITC
Lafarge (First time on Campus)
Maruti Udyog Limited
Nestle
Pepsi
Ranbaxy
Reckitt Benckiser
Coca Cola

Bennett Coleman and Company Limited
Birla Management Centre (First time on Campus)
Hewitt Associates
Olam International
Tata Administrative Services