Testing Waters: IIM A's New Placement System
I was reading an article this morning in 'The Economic Times' about how IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A) was changing the rules when it came to placements. IIM-A is ready for placements today - Saturday, February 13, 2010.
The standard protocol when it comes to B school placements is that the placement week is divided into days. The most coveted spot is Day Zero, which in some B - Schools lasts for almost three days. Most HR managers make sure that they are a part of the coveted Day Zero. To do this all companies declare which profiles they intend to recruit for, the locations recruiting for and the package that they would be offering the students. After this the students decide among themselves as to which company gets which slot. Even the Day Zero has a segmentation with most desired companies coming in early. The following days like day 1 are usually companies not really high on the priority list of the students but still command some premium to be invited on to a campus. Most Oil and Gas PSUs would fall in this list.
According to Prof. Biswas, my Marketing professor, all segmentation has to be made on the value sought by the customer. In this case the customers are the students and surprisingly most B-schools give scant regard to the value sought by this group.
IIM-A has decided to do away with this system of Day Zero and gone in for the "cohort system". What is this system and how does it work? The cohort system divides recruiting firms into logical groups. These logical groups are based on industry. So an example ITC, Unilever and Procter & Gamble would form one cohort as they belong to the same industry-FMCG. These cohorts would be invited to the campus for 2 days, weekends in the case of IIM-A. One weekend would be an FMCG cohort, the next weekend Banking so on.
How does this help future managers? Well one has to prepare for his target companies. Approaching a cohort a week would make preparation easier and more focused. From the recruiters point of view, they will find that most candidates are in a better frame of reference while facing a cohort. This will help the recruiters to pick the dedicated candidates who are passionate about the sector and have been preparing for it for some time now. Additionally, candidates opting for a specific cohort would be less likely to switch to companies from other industries within a year or two of joining. Therefore, it gives greater confidence to a HR/ Recruitment manager to hire through a cohort system.
The Cohort system, loosely put, is also the first step that any B-school has made towards verticalisation. Most Investment banks are vertical, so are consulting firms. IT firms, who joined the band wagon post 2004, also largely operate with a vertical focus. A vertical focus better serves the industry as there is plenty of business knowledge and industry Intellectual Property that can be used to serve customers well.
This is a decision that will force students to narrow their options. But the average age of B -School students in India including the IIM's is 24-26 years. Youngsters are often experimentation with their careers and want to explore as many industries, job roles and pay packets before deciding what suits them the best. and therefore despite opting for a cohort, there is no real guarantee that the students will appreciate the deeper reasons for introducing this system and nor can it be expected that they will remain in their first jobs post B -School for a year.
indian education is famous for produving generalists. most industry specialists often spend upto ten years in a particular industry beforwe calling themselves specialists. Cohort system will also force B-schools like IIM-A to revisit the debate on whether super specialized degrees(Industry specific MBA degrees) would become the future.
The standard protocol when it comes to B school placements is that the placement week is divided into days. The most coveted spot is Day Zero, which in some B - Schools lasts for almost three days. Most HR managers make sure that they are a part of the coveted Day Zero. To do this all companies declare which profiles they intend to recruit for, the locations recruiting for and the package that they would be offering the students. After this the students decide among themselves as to which company gets which slot. Even the Day Zero has a segmentation with most desired companies coming in early. The following days like day 1 are usually companies not really high on the priority list of the students but still command some premium to be invited on to a campus. Most Oil and Gas PSUs would fall in this list.
According to Prof. Biswas, my Marketing professor, all segmentation has to be made on the value sought by the customer. In this case the customers are the students and surprisingly most B-schools give scant regard to the value sought by this group.
IIM-A has decided to do away with this system of Day Zero and gone in for the "cohort system". What is this system and how does it work? The cohort system divides recruiting firms into logical groups. These logical groups are based on industry. So an example ITC, Unilever and Procter & Gamble would form one cohort as they belong to the same industry-FMCG. These cohorts would be invited to the campus for 2 days, weekends in the case of IIM-A. One weekend would be an FMCG cohort, the next weekend Banking so on.
How does this help future managers? Well one has to prepare for his target companies. Approaching a cohort a week would make preparation easier and more focused. From the recruiters point of view, they will find that most candidates are in a better frame of reference while facing a cohort. This will help the recruiters to pick the dedicated candidates who are passionate about the sector and have been preparing for it for some time now. Additionally, candidates opting for a specific cohort would be less likely to switch to companies from other industries within a year or two of joining. Therefore, it gives greater confidence to a HR/ Recruitment manager to hire through a cohort system.
The Cohort system, loosely put, is also the first step that any B-school has made towards verticalisation. Most Investment banks are vertical, so are consulting firms. IT firms, who joined the band wagon post 2004, also largely operate with a vertical focus. A vertical focus better serves the industry as there is plenty of business knowledge and industry Intellectual Property that can be used to serve customers well.
This is a decision that will force students to narrow their options. But the average age of B -School students in India including the IIM's is 24-26 years. Youngsters are often experimentation with their careers and want to explore as many industries, job roles and pay packets before deciding what suits them the best. and therefore despite opting for a cohort, there is no real guarantee that the students will appreciate the deeper reasons for introducing this system and nor can it be expected that they will remain in their first jobs post B -School for a year.
indian education is famous for produving generalists. most industry specialists often spend upto ten years in a particular industry beforwe calling themselves specialists. Cohort system will also force B-schools like IIM-A to revisit the debate on whether super specialized degrees(Industry specific MBA degrees) would become the future.
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