After a dull placement season last year, the mood in Ahmedabad-based Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A) was upbeat today, as investment bankers and consulting companies made a beeline for recruitments.

"One of the first clusters for the placement season at IIM-A is international investment banks. However, the names and types of firms visiting the campus will be declared after the first weekend," he said.

Unlike previous years, where placements were day-based, with international as well as domestic recruiters picking up students on Day Zero and Day One, the present cohort-based system will each weekend see firms from a sector visiting the campus as a cluster.

And with the final placement season for 2010 kicking off on February 13, the campus saw Day Zero regulars like HSBC, CitiBank, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The cohort-based system will allow IIM-A to hold placements for a longer duration, unlike last year, where the process was wrapped up in a few days. In November 2009, for instance, IIM-A had concluded the summer internship placement process in four days. There were 310 students in 2009-11.

Hopes of better placements this year have become bright among students and faculty alike. "We are yet to see how this cohort-based system works, but the mood has definitely lifted. It will at least provide enough time for both companies and students to assess the offers," said a student.

Students are hoping of better packages this year compared to last year, when domestic salaries were around Rs 12.17 lakh while the international salary average stood at $83,000.

"To facilitate greater transparency about the placement process, we would continue our practice of proactively reaching out to the media during the process, by providing authentic information in the form of a brief, as was followed during the summer process."

"We will try our best to disseminate as much information about placements as possible at the end of each cluster by Sunday evening. This release will capture the highlights of that particular cluster," it said.