Strategy consulting firms are top destination for IIMB summer placements
This year’s summer placements at the Indian Institute of Management at Bangalore (IIMB) have concluded, and the institute has maintained its hundred percent placement record. Interestingly, a big majority of the students were recruited by strategy and management consulting companies.
IIMB is a part of the Indian Institutes of Management network, and is arguably one of the most prestigious educational institutions in the country. Together with the Ahmedabad campus, IIMB is the highest ranked business school in India, having received five palms of excellence.
The institute has a reputation for generating highly capable professionals, and has maintained a steady 100% summer placement record for a number of years now. Last year, 402 students participated in the summer placement programme, all of who were placed in positions spanning multiple roles in 150 companies.
An interesting development in last year’s programme was the increased participation of strategy and management consulting firms. The programme saw a number of first-timers, including Arthur D. Little, BayCurrent Consulting, Auctus Advisors, and NRI Consulting. As a result of this spike in interest, more than 30% of the students were placed in strategy consulting and management consulting firms, including a number of international firms with a strong presence in India.
Dublin-headquartered Accenture was the most prominent recruiter, offering positions of varying nature to 20 students. The firm operates with over 140,000 employees across 11 offices in India, which makes it the largest presence of its global outfit, accounting for 35% of the company’s global headcount. This was followed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), who tabled 15 offers. BCG is another firm that is very active in India, including with the public sector, having been contracted by the Indian railways, as well as the NITI Aayog for major projects in recent times.
A.T. Kearney offered 13 positions last year, the third highest amongst the strategy consulting firms, followed by McKinsey & Company in fourth with 10. Alongside BCG, McKinsey was also commissioned by the NITI Aayog under the Development Support Services segment. The firm also recently helped develop a steel access plant for Usha Martin, a leading wiring brand in India.
McKinsey was followed by Bain & Company with 8 offers, and Strategy& – the strategic consultancy arm of PwC – with 7. Those recruited by Bain will be especially delighted by their appointments, as recent research has shown that the experience afforded to young employees at Bain equips them with the creative expertise to become successful entrepreneurs. Zomato, Delhivery and Kaaryah are all examples of successful businesses that were started by former Bain India employees.
This year, the 100% record continued, with all 401 of the students who participated being placed in one firm or another at the programme that took place between October 29th and November 1st. 130 companies came for summer placements this year, offering roles in analytics, finance, banking, marketing, corporate finance, and many others. Of these, a staggering 90 offers were made by strategy consulting firms, demonstrating the quest for talent that most of these firms are on in India. A number of international; firms, including Big Four professional services companies EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, have been engaged in poaching battles of sorts in the country in order to boost their respective operations in the locale.
Commenting on the success of the programme, Harsha Bhattad, the student placement representative at IIMB said, “IIMB continues to be the preferred campus for consulting, finance and analytics profiles with many firms increasing their usual number of offers. Marketing offers have also substantially increased this year with greater interest from top recruiters and students in this domain.”
Consulting firms and business schools
The success of strategy consulting firms is boosted by their popularity amongst young graduates, both within India and abroad. Across the world, students from top business schools are entering the consultancy domain immediately after graduating. Last year, a survey conducted amongst graduates of INSEAD, one of the top business schools in Europe, revealed that 43% of them joined management consulting firms across the world, demonstrating the growing popularity of the segment.
