Investment banking was the key factor of optimism on the first day of summer

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placement in the Indian Institute of Ahmedabad (IIM-A). “In line with expectations, investment banks made their presence felt. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Barclays each saw over five acceptances,” said an official release from IIM-A.

“Day Zero of the summer placement process for the batch of 2009-11 saw enthusiastic response from our regular partners from the fields of investment banking and consulting. Most students today were placed in investment banking and consulting roles”, said Himanshu Nema, secretary, placement cell, IIM-A.

A senior manager at Royal Bank of Scotland, which hired more than 10 summer interns in investment banking profiles in Hong Kong, Singapore, New Delhi and London, said, “I was happy to be here at the IIM campus in Ahmedabad. The students were well prepared and looked excited about the opportunity to work at the Royal Bank of Scotland. We hope the international experience provided by an internship at RBS helps them ahead in their careers.”

Some of the other banks include JP Morgan, Nomura, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup.

Top consulting firms were back on campus on November 2. McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Bain, each will have three to five students for summer internships in April next year. AT Kearney, Booz and Arthur D Little were the other companies.

The placement offers is an indicator of the mood in the economy and suggests some healthy signs of the hiring process at large business organisations. “We have invited more companies this year to ensure that all the students get placed. Companies which have confirmed include Procter & Gamble. BCG, McKinsey, HUL, and BNP Paribas,” said Sharat Chander, student placement co-ordinator at IIM-Lucknow.

Other IIMs are expected to begin their summer placement season shortly. IIM-Bangalore (IIM-B) will see the Slot Zero on November 6. IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C) kicks off summer placement on November 4.

“The new trend this year is that a number of start-up companies, NGOs and even public sector units are coming. This is over and above the multinational companies, investment bankers and companies in the marketing and FMCG sectors, who come to IIM-C to choose the best brains every year,” said Paul Savio, secretary, external affairs, IIM-C.

“A few international firms have confirmed participation, including some of the renowned investment bankers. However, we would like to disclose names only after the process,” said Vineet Sharma, placement representative at IIM-B.

According to Rohan Jaikishen, placement co-ordinator, IIM-K, about 100 companies have confirmed participation. “We have always been a finance and marketing driven campus and this year we expect the trend to continue. Sectors including finance, consultancy and marketing are expected to be the big hirers this year too,” Jaikishen added.

(With Ritwik Mukherjee in Kolkata and Sreerupa Mitra in Bangalore)