'There was a Diwali break and...': IIM Bangalore allays fears as 110 students yet to get summer internship

Over 100 students at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM-B) are yet to secure summer internships. This is the first time that such a large number of students at IIM-B have not been able to find summer placements.

"As you know summer internships are in April-May. For convenience and to avoid clashes with the academic schedule, we try to complete the summer internship selection process within a designated week well in advance. This year within the designated week a little over 80 per cent of the batch got summer internship offers," said Debolina Dutta, chairperson of the career development cell at IIM Bangalore to India Today.

This means one in six students were not able to secure placements. Only 490 students secured placements after the interviews held between November 6 and 11, 2023.

A predominant speculation points towards a slowdown in the US tech sector's hiring, which has hit the opportunities for Indian IT and IT-enabled services (ITeS), these sectors being prominent recruiters of students. 

The IIM-B's MBA curriculum necessitates an eight-week internship, marking a critical academic phase bridging to the second year. The internships are highly sought after, even by seasoned professionals (>34 months), who understand their significance in terms of pay, skills refinement and enhancing their portfolios.

However, among those students, there is widespread worry about the quality and relevancy of the internships that the institute is expected to "arrange" for them. Many people are concerned about the influence on their future work chances.

Meanwhile, financial stress is exacerbating the situation for MBA students who are heavily dependent on bank loans due to the hefty Rs 24.5 lakh fees for the two-year course. This is intensifying the urgency to secure employment after graduation. This issue has been brought into stark relief this year, contrasting sharply with the previous year's success where all 529 students found internships during the interview process. 

However, despite 110 students yet to secure employment and the mounting anxiety around this, the institute remains optimistic. 

IIM Bangalore, in its official statement shared with India Today, said that the institute has successfully placed 80 per cent in summer internships for now and the process will close soon.

"Due to some factors outside our control (tight job market, proximity to Diwali, etc.), we had to extend the summer selection process beyond the designated week. Also please note that our intake went up by 75 students this year," it noted.

"There was a Diwali break and many companies requested to resume it after the festival because interview panels were unavailable. While we do not deny that job market activity is lowkey everywhere, we do not see a need for alarm. We saw 160 companies in the first three days making offers to 490 students," said Debolina Dutta.

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