In-Hand Salaries IIM Students Expect In Their First Job After MBA

As can be expected, the salary expectations of students from India's top-ranked IIMs is, on average, higher than the overall average. The largest chunk of students from IIMs ABCLIK expect monthly in-hand salaries of INR 1.50 lakhs to INR 2.00 lakhs, and 80% of respondents would accept jobs offering a salary in the INR 1.10 lakh to INR 2.00 lakh range. Salaries in excess of INR 2.5 lakhs or below INR 1.10 lakhs have been deemed unrealistic.

The findings for top-ranked non-IIM business schools are similar to those of their IIM counterparts, with the largest chunk of MBA students expecting salaries in the INR 1.10 lakhs to INR 1.30 lakhs range, as well as the INR 1.50 lakhs to INR 2.00 lakhs range. Salaries below INR 0.9 lakhs and above INR 2.5 lakhs have been largely deemed as unrealistic, with not a single student saying that a salary in excess of INR 3.00 lakhs per month is justified. B-schools included in this segment include XLRI, FMS, MDI, IIFT, and NITIE amongst few others.

Compared to students from the first generation of IIMs (ABCLIK), students from the second and third generation of IIMs (new and baby IIMs) have much lower salary expectations. The largest chunk of respondents from these institutes expect salaries not greater than INR 1.10 lakhs per month, while the percentage of respondents expecting salaries between INR 0.7 lakhs to INR 0.9 lakhs is even higher than the overall average. Salaries in excess of INR 2.00 lakhs per month have been deemed extremely unrealistic by student from new and baby IIMs.