All Talk and No Action

In a welcome move today, the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has set out to review and alter its placement process.

Placements at the IIMs is a high adrenaline affair.

With their eyes solely on the number of interviews and PPTs to attend, most students lose track of the most important variable - that of the profile - Yes, something that you will do for the next few years and are supposed to be good at - gets trivialised.

It's no wonder then, that most graduates get disillusioned with the work content and leave their jobs within the first two years.

Compare this with what top tier B Schools abroad have to offer.

Having attended Career Planning and Placement talks of some of the better B Schools, I can vouch for the importance this particular function is accorded.

The focus is always "You". What it is you want, if you have a plan in place, if you can connect the dots and get there and some more.

Placement is not just about landing a multi million dollar job and a handsome bonus. It is as much about self realisation as it is about knowing your subject fundamentals.

Big names like Mckinsey, Google and Goldman Sachs are known to conduct a minimum of 10 interview rounds for laterals and 6 or more for fresh graduates.

It is measures like these that help them and the candidates decide if a relationship can be forged.

And, just so you know, all of them feature in the 100 best companies to work for, regularly.

If, you do not enjoy doing what the profile offers, even that bonus will play hide-n-seek.

In the run for the big $s, a lot of us forget about what we like and would love to do for most, if not the rest, of our lives.

And the Day Zero wrestling doesn't come in handy in our pursuit of happiness.

So, there would be much to celebrate if a saner system can be put in place, with atleast a month (wishful thinking, I know) of company presentations, coffee table discussions on it's trajectory, the work content and finally the take home.

How well participating MNCs can adjust to such a schedule, needs to be seen.

For now atleast, things are looking bright for the graduates.