For placements in recession, management graduates try out new ploys

The recession blues still seem to be haunting business schools across Gujarat. The students of many of these institutions are coming up with various ideas to draw companies to their campuses to ensure placements for themselves.

Some institutions have launched websites exclusively dedicated to the placements while others are contacting their alumnae in order to seek their aid for the same reason. Another trend that has been seen is that almost all business schools have started their placements earlier than usual.

Eight students of the BK School of Business Management, affiliated to Gujarat University, are developing a website with the entire details of the students. The website is under construction and according to Madhur Sharma, a member of the placement committee of the institute, it will begin functioning soon.

Sarla Achuthan, director of the BK School of Business Management, said that the website will help corporate firms select students on the basis of the information uploaded on the website, if they do not wish to approach the campus.

“The institute is 39 years old and has alumnae spread across India and abroad. We hope that in such circumstances wherein the placements have become difficult, the alumnae can help us,” Sharma said.

Meanwhile, the students of ICFAI have already launched their placement portal. “We hope that this website reaches out to recruiters so that there are maximum benefits. We have uploaded information of the students on the portal. Companies can shortlist the candidates before they come to the campus. In this way, they will be able to save time and energy,” said Kalp Desai, one of the students of the institute who contributed to the website.

Regarding the placements forming a matter of concern for the students this year, Desai said, “We do not want to take any risk. Luckily, the last batch had 100 per cent placement. However, even after selection, they had to wait for a couple of months before starting their jobs.”

Darshan Purohit, placement officer of the business and industrial management programme at the Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, said that this year is no different from the last as far as the placements are concerned. “We are trying to implement some effective measures to ensure that each and every student of our programme is placed. We recently discussed this issue and will plan accordingly,” he said.

The Narmada College of Management, Bharuch has been putting in extra efforts to create a good rapport with firms to ensure that its students are placed. “We will invite human resource personnel of different companies to conduct sessions with the students on special occasions. This way, they can get to know about our students. In addition, we will distribute in-house magazines to the companies. In other words, we are focusing on providing the maximum exposure to our students before the companies, so that they do not face any problems before selecting the candidates,” said Vimla Birpardia, placement in-charge, Narmada College of Management.

Sushil Bhalal, placement officer of the Institute of Business Management, Nirma University, said that the industry situation is not clear as of now. “I think the situation in the job market will be clear in a month or two. Therefore, we are waiting and following the same pattern as last year. We will take appropriate action as and when the situation emerges during the placements in November,” he said.

Meanwhile, the School of Management and Commerce run by the Ahmedabad Education Society has initiated a joint certification programme in retail banking along with HDFC Bank. The programme includes academic as well as practical training by bank experts. A student of the institute said that this will enhance the final placements in the chosen specialisations of the students.