Finance is no longer a buzzword in B-schools

As banks and financial institutions across US and Europe continue to collapse like nine pins, finance is no longer the buzz word in

B-school campuses. At the Indian School of Busines (ISB), Hyderabad, new sectors like healthcare and retail are becoming a big draw amongst students. "Many students from our institute go for a major career shift on completion of the course," says Bhuvana Ramalingam, senior director, communications, ISB.

Ramalingam says that students are exploring opportunities in other sunrise sectors such as pharma and retail. "In any case, companies like Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers were never big recruiters from our campus even in the past," adds Ramalingam. Nevertheless, the ongoing financial crisis has ensured that a career in finance is not longer bankable. As Anuradha Venkatesan, a freshman who is pursuing MBA at IIT Madras puts it candidly, "Many of us were looking at finance as an option, but the current market scenario has lowered our hopes."

Entry level openings in core finance domains such as investment banking and treasury will more or less be ‘bank(ab)rupt' now as erstwhile international financial giants such as Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs picked students from B schools during placements. Which is why management students like Mohit Gupta from IIT Madras are busy ‘trying to hedge their career risks for the moment.' "While good openings in core and allied finance areas like investment banking and BFSI (banking, finance, services, insurance) will be affected by the current meltdown, there would be opporunities in the finance side in emerging verticals like retail and pharma," rationalises Gupta.

At the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai the buzz in campus is the financial sector meltdown. "Students are concerned as jobs in banking, finance and consulting domains are top draw during placements," says Professor Sriram, executive director, Great Lakes Institute of Management. Sectors like consulting, investment banking, corporate finance, equity research, financial modelling and treasury remain top draw among students during placements.