Speaking to the MBAUniverse.com, Sushil Kumar, Professor-in-Charge, Corporate Communication & Media Relations, IIM-L said, “We have achieved what we expected -- that is 30% hike in average salary.” The lateral placement saw 83 IIM Lucknow grads being placed in 40 companies. Students with a minimum of 18-month experience were allowed to participate in the lateral placements
“The number of companies vying for the attention of the talented batch saw a meteoric rise of 33% over last year,” says Pravin Devanathan, spokesperson for the Placement Committee of IIM Lucknow.
The profiles on offer this year ranged from Area Sales Manager to Vice-President, Brand Manager, and Product Manager. AV Birla, under its “LEAD” program, designed specifically for its IIM recruits, offered applicants a choice of picking any company and functional area from the entire conglomerate, in accordance with the students’ career plans. Bristlecone, an internationally renowned supply chain-consulting firm, offered senior profiles to people interested in operations and supply chain management. KPMG Middle East and KPMG India both made their presence felt at campus with offerings in risk management. PwC offered profiles ranging from government reforms and infrastructure programs to technology advisory services and business solutions.
A significant number of financial firms and banks offered international profiles as well. JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Standard Chartered, Yes Bank, CitiFinancial, and Adventity Advisors also recruited in the laterals at IIM L. Other prominent recruiters included Tesco, Tata Strategic Management Group (TSMG), Asian Paints, Motorola, Rediff, and Dr. Reddy’s Labs for marketing profiles. Google and Trilogy were a few heavy weights in the list of new companies. IT firms Virtusa, IBM, Cognizant Technology Solutions, TCS, Infosys and Atos also competed for the favour of the budding young managers. Indian giants like Reliance Industries, RPG, and Essar Group also found favours.
“The most encouraging development of this year’s lateral placements was the fact that companies from a wide variety of industries were recruiting for almost all functional areas – unlike previous years where lateral placements were dominated by IT firms,” says the placement release from IIM L.
Placements at IIM-L are spread across different stages and the lateral placements took place right before the final placements, scheduled between 6 and 9 March 2007. The lateral placement in IIM Lucknow is known as the Higher Entry Placement Programme (HEPP), a process that started from January 2007. The Higher Entry Placement Programme (HEPP) facilitates students with more than 12 months of work experience to gain access to suitable opportunities in the corporate world. This is beneficial to both students as well as organizations that can leverage the formers’ professional experience by absorbing them in lateral positions.
