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How are the placements for engineers with no work experience at the IIMs, FMS Delhi and XLRI?
The two most important factors considered by recruiters during Placements at IIM ABC/FMS/XLRI are
- Brand of UG College - SRCC/Old IITs/BITS/CA
- High Academics - University RankHolders, City Toppers in Boards, or at least Department Rank Holders with 8.5+ in Engineering.
MBA scores are of much importance during Final Placements but are Not available during summer placement.
If you have passed the above criteria, you are most likely to land any job. Still, I have segregated the roles that require work experience and the roles that do not.
Roles that require work experience
- Operations/Supply chain/product management.
- Any role will require work experience if your above 2 criteria are not up to the mark.
Roles that do not require work experience
- Consulting
- Investment Banking
- PE/VC
- Marketing
- Corporate Finance roles
So most of the jobs do not require work experience. Even if they do only non-engineering work experience is of value unless you want to go into Operations/Supply chain/product management.
What is the student exchange program at IIM Ahmedabad?
Exchange Programs come under Inter-University collaboration. It allows students to study at a foreign university for a certain duration of time. Casual attachment to a foreign university for a period not exceeding one semester is more common, and your academic score at the host university does not count toward your MBA assessment.
Dual Degree programs are those in which your work abroad counts toward your academic ranking at IIM(A) and may also qualify you for another degree from the host university. Despite the fact that it is somewhat uncommon.
How much do the top B-schools like the IIMs FMS, MDI, XLRI, SP JAIN, JBIMS, IIFT, and NITIE inflate their placement reports?
In the placement process, it is not always the B-Schools that are responsible for reporting inflated packages, but rather the companies. The figure reported by placement cells is referred to as the "Cost to Company" (CTC) and not the take-home salary. This means that simply dividing the CTC by 12 is not an accurate reflection of what you will receive in your bank account each month.
CTC consists of two main components: fixed and variable. The fixed component includes your basic salary, HRA, TA, LTA, employer's contribution to the provident fund, joining bonus, retention bonuses, and ESOPs. The variable component is based on both your performance and the company's performance and is paid out in lump sums either yearly or half-yearly.
Your take-home salary at the end of each month is calculated as basic salary + HRA + TA + other allowances - provident fund deduction - tax. The remaining amount is given to you at the end of the year. To illustrate how companies may inflate their CTC figures, here are a few examples:
- Amazon:
Fixed component: 9 lakhs
Year 1 end retention bonus: 2 lakhs
Year 2 end retention bonus: 1.5 lakhs
ESOP: 5 lakhs to be paid over 3 years
Performance bonus: separate/not reported CTC: 17.5 lakhs
Take-home salary: 65-70k
- Goldman Sachs:
Fixed component + Variable component: 14.5 lakhs
Relocation: 2,00,000 INR (one-time payment)
Supplemental Salary: 3,50,000 INR (supplemental salary is an accrued bonus paid out in monthly installments pro-rated from the date of joining, only applicable during the first year of joining)
CTC: 20 lakhs
Take-home salary: 95-98k
- RBS India Development Center (Royal Bank of Scotland back-end):
Fixed component: 9 lakhs
Variable component: 10-20% of a fixed component
CTC: 10.8 lakhs
Take-home salary: 65-68k
As seen from the examples, despite Amazon having a CTC that is double that of RBS IDC, their take-home salary is the same. This is the typical way it works. The placement teams likely do not have much control over the process.
What is the syllabus for finance and marketing at IIM Ahmedabad?
There is no such specific syllabus for Finance and Marketing at IIM Ahmedabad. In the first year, IIM Ahmedabad courses for MBA are designed by the institute.
- There are a few Finance related courses such as Financial Markets, Financial Reporting, and Analysis, etc. Through these courses, you will learn the basics like how to read and make financial statements. They also teach advanced courses like Corporate Finance during the later terms.
- You will learn the basics of Marketing through Marketing I, II, and III during the first year of PGP.
In the second year of your PGP, you will have the freedom to choose the area and discipline that you want to study. There are many interesting electives on offer from both Finance and Marketing. There are courses on Trading, Insurance, Advanced Statistics, Artificial Intelligence and Marketing, Brand Management, Marketing Services, etc.
In IIM Ahmedabad, how did you find your classes on the first day?
My sister is an IIM Ahmedabad pass out and narrated her experience of her first day at the prestigious institute.
Firstly you have to look at the seating chart outside the class. Once you enter you will find your name assigned to a particular seat. Seats are assigned on the basis of an unknown algorithm.
The first class is usually conducted by the Director Prof. Ashish Nanda. An alumnus of the institute, he is no less than a celebrity there. The students are excited to be in such a coveted place and taught by such an important person.
Class rooms are usually named CR1 or CR9. Find your own classroom beforehand and on the said date enter your classroom wel before time. You will be astonished to find that the class will have already been filled with eager students.
Is IIM Calcutta an "IIM Ahmedabad" rejected college?
I think comparing both IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta is doing injustice to these colleges. Both the IIMs are excellent at their own level.
If you consider the rankings then IIM Ahmedabad tips the list and IIM Calcutta comes next. But do rankings really matter that much? It might be possible that a certain college is on top of the list but inconvenient for you and a certain college is second in the list and is best suited for you.
I have seen friends who have rejected offers from IIM Ahmedabad and went for IIM Calcutta because it suited their needs better.
Some special features of IIM Calcutta that IIM Ahmedabad does not have are:
-
A finance lab with a Bloomberg terminal
-
Top notch finance faculty
-
CEMS-MiM programme (Masters in Management programme ranked 7th in the world)
So yes IIM Ahmedabad is the best IIM but IIM Calcutta is also not an ordinary one. Choose the one that suits your needs best rather than which ranks the most.
What are the pros and cons of XLRI Jamshedpur vs IIM Ahmedabad?
We can compare IIM Ahmedabad to XLRI Jamshedpur on the basis of the following aspects:
-
Brand Value: Without any doubt the brand value of IIM Ahmedabad is much more than XLRI.
-
Placements: IIM Ahmedabad enjoys a slight improvement in placement opportunities than XLRI
-
Alumni: IIM Ahmedabad has amazing alumni like Raghuram Rajan, Chetan Bhagat, Harsha Bhogle, etc and has dominance over top positions in industry. XLRI on the other hand has its own alumni pool that’s known to back XLRI strongly.
-
Industry scope: Both the colleges enjoy an excellent industry reach. XLRI first BM batch (2020–22) of Delhi NCR campus completed its placements with an average of around 27 lakhs. This shows their vast industry reach.
-
Rankings: If you consider ranking then XLRI is far behind the top IIM Ahmedabad. But in reality it should have ranked 3rd (after IIM A B C).
-
Culture: The culture at IIM Ahmedabad is less vibrant than that of XLRI
So it can be said that both XLRI and IIM Ahmedabad offer if not equal but excellent career opportunities.
Is ISB better than IIM A/B/C and FMS Delhi?
My uncle is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and also an ex-employee of ISB. So I asked him about the same. He told me that the faculty of IIM Calcutta focuses on the overall development of students and not just academics. They prepare you for the life ahead and not just for exams or placement. ISB on the other hand due to its short duration course is unable to cope with this aspect. Also, the fees of ISB are much more than that of IIMs. The only merit is that it saves you a year as the flagship program at IIMs is two years.
So ISB is a good choice for you only if
- You are looking for a course of shorter duration
- You are okay with spending a lot of money
- You value the degree more than what you learn from it
Both the institutes are world-class and therefore not much comparison can be drawn from them.
What is the cutoff of IIM Ahmedabad 2020?
The IIMs have released their 2023 qualifying CAT cutoffs in their admission brochures.
Here are the 2023 category-wise qualifying CAT cutoffs for IIM Ahmedabad admissions-
|
Category |
Cutoff percentile |
|
General |
80 |
|
OBC |
75 |
|
EwS |
80 |
|
SC |
70 |
|
ST |
60 |
The expected final CAT 2023 cutoff for IIM Ahmedabad is 99 (if you have 80+ percentage in 10th, 12th and Bachelor’s). If not, around 99.5+ percentile is a decent CAT score to expected a call.
To secure admission into IIM Ahmedabad, you need a very high percentile in the CAT examination. But percentile is not the only criteria, and the final selection also depends on other factors like Analytical Writing Test (AWT), Personal Interview (PI), etc.
Moreover, the 99-99.5+ criteria is for engineering students. This has been done to maintain batch diversity. General students from other backgrounds can get a call and convert successfully at less than 90 percentile.
Keep a track of the updated final cutoffs as soon as IIM Ahmedabad releases the admission criteria 2024-26.
Will I get IIM A 100 percentile?
Firstly, it’s important to note that there are 2 types of CAT cutoffs for IIM admission: qualifying cutoff and final cutoff
Admission to IIMs or in fact any top B School requires the minimum CAT 2023 cutoff is expected to be the 90 percentile. A 99+ CAT percentile makes you eligible to apply for top IIMs like IIM Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, IIM Calcutta, and IIM Kozhikode. In fact, a 98+ in the CAT percentile guarantees a call from these Iimss.
Some top IIMs that sends calls to 98+ score are
- IIM Lucknow
- IIM Bangalore
- IIM Kozhikode
- IIM Ahmedabad
- IIM Calcutta
- IIM Shillong
- IIM Indore
However, a very important point to consider is that these IIMs include other parameters for final selection. Usually, maximum weightage is given to CAT followed by academic profile, work experience, and gender diversity. So, a CAT score does not necessarily guarantee admission to IIM Ahmedabad.
For instance, a candidate with 100 percentile but no work experience might not get admission while a candidate with 95 percentile but excellent work experience might get admission to IIM Ahmedabad. So all factors should be considered and not just the CAT score.
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