During the placements process at b-schools, choosing which company to work with is important; for many, this will be their first-ever employer in the corporate world. While one would expect factors such as compensation and brand-value to be on the top of the priority list while choosing an employer, the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey has revealed for that to not be the case. So, what factors
do MBA students put at the top of their priority list when it comes to choosing a brand to work with? Is money more important or work-life balance and career growth? Here's what we found.
For MBA Students, Career Growth More Important Than Salary, Work Life Balance
When it comes to choosing which employer to work with, MBA students prioritize career growth over all other factors including compensation and work-life balance. Companies must take note of this and ensure that they communicate a clear career growth trajectory to applicants during the final placements process. Clearly, companies like Amazon, Google and Hindustan Unilever - the top three dream companies on b-school campuses - are able to offer unparalleled career growth, making them the employers of choice for MBA students.
Next up in the pecking order is compensation - one of the core reasons for pursuing an MBA in the first place. The reason for this is that an MBA isn't cheap, and students expect a good return on investment in the short-term as well as the long-term. Our surveys have revealed that most Indian MBA students expect a monthly in-hand salary in the range of INR 1.1 lakhs to INR 2.0 lakhs in their first post-MBA job, and given that compensation is a critical and influential factor, companies must focus on matching graduates' expectations or risk losing out on talent.
On average, work-life balance isn't great at Indian companies. In fact, 60% of working Indians rate their work-life balance between average and terrible, a survey revealed in 2019. Along with insufficient income, these two factors are the
top reasons for work-related stress in India. This is why MBA students will prioritize work-life balance over factors such as the brand they'd get to work with and the level of impact they can have through their role at the company.
Factors such as employers' focus on innovation, CSR and sustainability is of little to no concern for MBA students, most likely because these factors do not enhance or detract from their quality of work or compensation.
How We Created This Report - Methodology
In 2021, we reached out to first and second year MBA students across India's top business schools to tell us about their thoughts on the b-school recruitment process. Amongst the many questions in the survey that was floated, we asked MBA students to rate the most influential factors in choosing an employer, from a given list of options. Based on the responses received, a weighted score was calculated, using which rankings were generated. Respondents to the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey include a good mix of 1st and 2nd year MBA students.
Students responding to this survey belong to business schools like IIMs Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore, Kozhikode, as well as second and third generation IIMs. Respondents also belong to campuses such as FMS Delhi, XLRI Jamshedpur, SPJIMR Mumbai, ISB, MDI Gurgaon, SIBM Pune, IIFT, and NMIMS Mumbai amongst others. Other campuses include IMT Ghaziabad, SCMHRD, Welingkar, KJSIMSR, XIMB, IMI New Delhi, and the IITs.