PLACEMENTS AT STAKE IN IITs & IIMs

 

Recruiters are willing to support but not compromise. Known to be the hunting grounds for best talent both in India and globally, IITs and IIMs have a task at hand. After Supreme Court’s ruling of upholding 27% reservation for OBCs in IITs and IIMs, almost half the batch (49.5%) at these premier institutes will now belong to the reserved category. The much-talked-about ‘brand dilution’ stares at these institutions. But does it deter the recruiters?

Says Sangeeta Singh, KPMG, director, HR: “As a recruiter this will have huge impact as we may stop going to the IIMs in the long-run. We go to institutes and pay a premium for students as we get quality. If we don’t get that we will not go. That’s for every recruiter.”

There are, however, others who are willing to take a chance. Says Madhavi Lall, head-HR, India, Standard Chartered: “I’m sure people will have to meet the criterion. This will not make a difference to us.”

This fear of brand dilution is a natural one since for a very long time both IITs and IIMs have controlled the supply of students. T Muralidharan, director, Talent Management International, a talent management and acquisition firm and an alumnus of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad agrees with Ms Singh. He, however, says that though the reservations may have short-term impact in terms of candidates finding suitable jobs on campuses, there will be no long-term implications.

“If you see the last 10 years alumni distribution of IIMs there is a wide divergence in profiles. Take for example IIMA. The last 10 years record show that there is a huge variation in the highest and lowest salaries, which could be between Rs 60 lakh and Rs 12-14 lakh,” says Mr Muralidharan.

Therefore, in case a person is hired from the OBC quota and is not good enough, there will be an initial impact on the campus, but this will wear off soon. Further, HR experts feel that companies may have to head for global B-schools since increasingly India is turning out to be a preferred career destination. Students from US, UK, Singapore and others may be hired.

Engineering students could find themselves in a spot too. Recruiters fear that putting in time and money just to prepare students who come in through quota may strain IITs resources. “This is unacceptable when you are trying to become world class in education,” says an official of a Delhi-based energy and power major. The company hired a large number of students from IITs and other premier engineering institutes.

Engineering and management institutions are quick to counter these attacks. They talk about balancing quality and quantity in the same breath. Says IIM Calcutta director Shekhar Chaudhuri: “We have always had 22.5% reservation for the SC/ST category and we don’t see any problem with managing with 49.5% reservation.” At IIM Calcutta special classes for will be held for weak students a month before the actual academic session starts. Ditto at IIM Bangalore where preparatory classes, that precede the academic term are being focused on in a big way.

In the meanwhile, IIT Kharagpur is also gearing towards maintaining the quality. Says B K Mathur, professor-in-charge, training and placement at IIT-Kharagpur: “I don’t foresee any problems with the reservations. By the time, the students go through the training and curriculum of the institute, they are all more or less at par.”

While the justifications from both sides continue, the truth remains—-companies would not buy the logic of paying without merit.

 

Thanks: Economic Times