‘General Management Programme’ (GMP), the one-year executive MBA course of XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, Jamshedpur completed its placements for the batch graduating in 2010. More than half the class joined the IT/ITES sector while 35% of the batch received salaries between Rs 12 lakhs and Rs 15 lakhs, according to the institute’s placement report.

“The highest salary offered was Rs 30 lakhs whereas the average was Rs 15 lakhs. There was an increasing trend towards hiring for senior management positions by the corporates. Some of the roles offered were General Manager, Business Unit Head, State Head, Global Leadership Cadre and Assistant Vice Presidents,” said the XLRI GMP 2010 placement report.

The total batch size of the GMP class of 2010 was 97, of which 15 students were on an employment sabbatical (from companies such as Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, BSNL, Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarakhand, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, TCS, Wipro and Good Year) and returned to their original companies after the completion of the course.
The remaining 82 students participated in a rolling placements process which started at the XLRI Jamshedpur campus in February 2010 and thereafter in placement drives at Mumbai and Bangalore.

Companies which participated in the GMP placements process included Google, Mind Tree, SAP, Accenture, IBM, HCL, HP, Mahindra Satyam, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, TCS, Future Group, Apollo Hospitals, Infosys, Applabs, Daimler, Exide, Genpact and Tata Motors, according to the placement report.

“While 17% students could successfully make a shift in sector/industry, around 38% students were able to change roles. Notable shifts were made by doctors in the batch who were able to switch from medical practice to leading managerial roles in the health sector. Also many students from the IT sector were able to shift from conventional programming and project management roles to business manager or consultant roles. Other remarkable shifts made in industry were in case of two students from IT sector who were offered roles in operations in a large retail group and in corporate sales/marketing in a leading music label. Further, many students from core sectors made a shift to IT as subject matter experts or consultants,” said the report.

The batch had an average work experience of 7.2 years before joining GMP. 63% of the batch had work experience between 5 and 7 years. The average age of the students in the batch was 30.6 years, with 25% being in the 26-28 years bracket while 45% being in the 29-31 years bracket. Half of the batch had work experience in the IT services and IT products sector.