(c) Class of 2017 and MBA aspirants
In the previous editions of the InsideIIM Recruitment Survey, we have observed that Sales & Marketing has consistently emerged as the clear winner, without fail. This year the scenario looks drastically different with Hindustan Unilever being the only Sales & Marketing firm to find a place among the top 10 dream companies for each of the 3 categories. The overall picture regarding this vertical, however, seems to become more sanguine as one moves from MBA aspirants & first year students towards post-MBA professionals. This isn’t very surprising as the top investment banking and strategy consulting profiles have become more rarefied in the recent years while Sales & Marketing is comparatively within everyone’s reach. Thus, post-MBA professionals, by virtue of their first-hand experience, do realize the relevance of Sales & Marketing roles as the other perceived “premium” roles also involve a fair share of hard-selling at every stage. At a macro-level, each of the 3 rankings this year has been dominated by the foreign FMCG firms similar to the trend witnessed in the previous editions. The immense penetration of their products in each aspect of our daily lives may serve as a fitting explanation for this continuing trend.
Over the years, technology companies have increasingly found more favour with B-school graduates and this year the scenario is no different. Although the vertical too high on in the list of most preferred domains, the fine line segregating technology firms from IT body-shopping solution providers tends to get clouded by public perception. Despite this anomaly of sorts, global behemoths like Google, Facebook and Amazon, as well as Indian technology powerhouses like inter alia Flipkart and Zomato have performed considerably well this year. This trend does indeed bode well for these technology firms as they wish to etch a distinct impression upon the Indian economy in the years to come.
Methodology
The respondents belonging to the Class of 2016 and post-MBA professionals were asked to simply classify each company into one of the 5 categories: ‘Most Desirable’ (score: 5), ‘Highly Desirable’ (score: 4), ‘I’m Confused’ (score: 3), ‘I do not wish to apply’ (score: 2) and ‘I have never heard of this company before’ (score: 1). Using this data, a weighted score for each firm was computed, which in turn was used to obtain the ranks of the firms in the two afore-mentioned categories. On the other hand, MBA aspirants and 1st year students were simply asked to select their top 5 banks. Based upon the ranks allotted in the previous step, each bank was assigned a score ranging from 5 (first preference) to 1 (fifth preference) [a score of 0 implied that the bank did not feature in the user’s top 5]. A weighted average of the same was carried out to allot a composite score to each bank.
A segmented method has been utilized for the different respondent segments in order to minimize the information asymmetry entailed herein. While post-MBA professionals are bound to have a deeper understanding of their chosen domain primarily due to first-hand experience, 1st year students & MBA aspirants would base their views upon media reports and other publicly disseminated information. In fact, the latter category would in all probability not know even the intricacies of the different roles offered under the umbrella of the broad domain. The Class of 2016 would essentially possess a level of understanding intermediate to the two categories mentioned earlier. Thus, the segregation should abet in making the results more cogent.
Let us now see who the most preferred recruiters in the Sales & Marketing and Technology & E-commerce domains really are!
Sales & Marketing
Post MBA industry professionals
Top 5
Top 10
While the top 3 firms have remained unchanged in comparison to last year’s list, Nestle has made a sudden exit from the top 10 ranking. A possible rationale for the same could be the fact that the firm was mired in the Maggi controversy during the time this survey was being carried out. Thus, one can be hopeful that they will make a strong comeback in the subsequent editions of this survey. Reckitt Benckiser has emerged as the major winner in this category by jumping from being outside the top 10 to breaking into the top 5.
Past trends
Class of 2016
Top 5
Top 10
While HUL has managed to regain the top billing in this category by displacing P&G to the second position, both Nestle and Colgate Palmolive have made an exit from the top 10. The biggest winners this year have been ITC, which has moved from the 9th (last year) to the 3rd position, and Amazon has managed to break into the top 10 in contrast to last year’s ranking. Apart from this, another noteworthy feature is the superlative rating received by the sales & marketing roles offered by technology sector firms.
Past trends
MBA aspirants & first year students
Top 5
Top 10
The big difference in this year’s ranking is that a non-FMCG company (Google) has been able to break into the top 3 for the first time in the Recruitment Survey’s history. In doing so, Google has succeeded in displacing Proctor & Gamble from the second spot, which the firm has had a firm grasp on since this survey’s inception. Another interesting feature which merits mention is the fact that Flipkart has been able to bypass two behemoths namely Facebook and Amazon, to surge ahead in this ranking. The biggest loser this year has been Reckitt Benckiser, which has slid from the 6th to the 10th position. Apart from this, there are no surprises per se, in this edition with HUL still leading the pack like always.
Past trends
Technology & E-commerce
Post MBA industry professionals
Top 5
Top 10
Google and Facebook carry on their head-to-head rivalry in this list too with Facebook getting the better of Google, albeit by a fraction, this time around. Apart from this, India Inc. should be proud about this list as three of its home-grown brands (Infosys, Myntra and Zomato) manage to break into the top 10.
Recent trends
Class of 2016
Top 5
Top 10
Google and Facebook carry on with their back-and-forth brawl of sorts in this edition of the Recruitment Survey as well with the former marginally edging ahead. Although Zomato and Jabong manage to enter the top 10 this year, this occurs at the expense of home-bred TCS, Snapdeal, Myntra and Wipro exiting from the list.
Recent trends
MBA aspirants & first year students
Top 5
Top 10
It is very interesting to note that although the top 5 companies of last year’s list still populate this year’s top 5, none of them sans Google (first) manage to retain the same position. This year’s list bodes a very bright future indeed for Indian start-ups as both Snapdeal and Jabong manage to break into the top 10, joining the incumbent Flipkart. On the flipside, this list doesn’t seem as sanguine for Indian IT majors because both TCS and Infosys have crashed out of the top 10 despite featuring in the same, last year.
Recent trends
Conclusion
Although Sales & Marketing as a vertical seems to have lost its favour amongst the members of target population who took this survey, one may attribute the same to a momentary surge in the global economy. One must take into cognition the fact that Sales & Marketing is by far the most sustainable vertical which offers significant flexibility. Furthermore, this vertical offers remuneration which is comparable to the ‘fixed’ component of the pay packages offered by the more “premier” verticals, viz. investment banking and strategy consulting. As predicted in the previous edition, FMCG has had to face a considerable amount of heat owing to the ascendance of technology firms offering sales & marketing roles. The fact that HUL, P&G and Google are the only 3 firms which have managed to lock in an equitable performance in each of the three categories bears testimony to the same.
The dominance of the leading international technology product companies is quite ostensible from this list, with Facebook and Google going great guns in acquiring the best talent on-campus. However, the real story is the vindication of last year’s claim regarding the bright future of Indian product start-ups. Given the immense scale of the expansion drives which even the global giants envisage for India in the years to come, one can hope that the technology sector will only prove to be more lucrative with each passing day.
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