The latest trend that has caught up in India in the education industry is of working executives now going in for management programmes. A trend which was very much prevalent in the West is now fast gaining pace in the Indian scenario. This is to enable the working executives get an additional edge over their present qualifications and prior experience gives them an advantage over other students. Corporates are also willing to pay a high salary package to students with work experience along with an MBA degree from premier B-schools. At IIM Lucknow, a substantive number (about 50% of the batch) of students come with prior work experience. Lateral Placements or High Entry Placements (HEPP) is a process for such students.
The Laterals process at IIM Lucknow begins in November with companies coming in for pre-placement talks. Last year a total of 65 students under this category were recruited by business majors like IBM, Cap Gemini, CSC, HP, Wockhardt and Johnson & Johnson. Compared to 11 last year, this year the number of companies visiting the campus for lateral placements was 27. The number of offers saw a huge jump crossing the 3 digit figure, with an average salary of Rs. 9.23 lacs.
IIM Lucknow has always seen a diversity of roles being offered to its students. This year, there were several companies from all sectors, ranging from Finance, Consulting, Operations, Systems, Marketing. Some of the major companies participating in the process this year were Goldman Sachs India, JP Morgan, Headstrong Consulting, TSMG, Bristlecone, SAP, Virtusa, iGate, Atos Origin, Genpact, Amrop International, Honeywell, Grow Talent, amongst others.
A prominent increase was seen in the HR positions being offered to students during Laterals. Companies like Amrop International, Honeywell visited the campus for the first time and offered Leadership Consulting profiles to a few students. This has been a significant change from the previous years where students at IIM Lucknow generally opted for careers in finance, marketing, consulting or systems.
Genpact offered a Transition Manager profile where the student would stay abroad for 9 months in a year. Essar offered Senior Manager – Merger & Acquisitions profiles to the students. Some of the other profiles offered were Senior Consultant, Senior Business Analyst, Global Solution Services Consultant, Manager – Projects, Manager- Plant Operations, and Manager – Business Development amongst a host of other lucrative opportunities.