Up again, but not in the stratosphere

"Money is not all." Coming as a chorus from the MBA grads of 2010, the words were music to the ears of recruiters. Until last year, an MBA stamp from a top B-school was a passport to success and recruiters would indulge every new batch with everrising records in compensation.

With the economic crunch, some old ideas about an MBA as a passport to success and money crumbled. At the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), salaries plunged by as much as 30 per cent for the batch of 2009, and some of the grads had to reconcile themselves to "lowly" salaries in the range of Rs 5-8 lakh at government banks. Little surprise then, that the subsequent batch-the Class of 2010 -learnt its lessons well before taking the workplace plunge.

What's your MBA worth? 25% Average salary increase at top 20 B-schools Rs 20 lakh Average salary offered by I-banks Rs 15 lakh Average salary offered by consulting firms Rs 9.5 lakh Average salary offered by IT companies

Shashank Mutalik, 24, was shaken up last year when jobs dried up for his seniors at the Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. "The placement scenario got worse by the day and we saw our seniors struggling," he says. Mutalik's batch had no idea what the future had in store for them, the batch of 2010, but they were sure of one thing: they did not want to be caught unawares.

What followed was a rigorous preparation over the next one year to raise skill levels in a bad job market. "Normally, you have classroom understanding of theory. Our batch put a lot of this theory into live projects," says Mutalik of the work that went in to stand out. He and his peers were fiercely competitive and more aware of life at the workplace.

Compensation was not the top concern, but Mutalik was acutely aware that the previous batch had settled for less than half of what they had expected. "For me, the company brand and my profile were of utmost importance. I wanted a profile in sales and I got that at Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages. If you have a sound career trajectory in place, compensation will follow," says Mutalik.

At IIM-Calcutta, average salaries went up by 20 per cent this year, but Rohan Mahajan, 23, wasn't overly excited. "I had aspirations only in terms of company brand and the people I would work with." Mahajan had done his summer internship at Citibank and also got an offer for final placement. He wasn't too worried about his placement even when he saw his seniors suffer last year. "Sure, there was a drop in salaries, but if something has gone down, it will eventually bounce back," he says.

And bounce back it did. While wannabe managers learnt to make informed choices, salary packages did rebound this year-increasing by more than 40 per cent on average at some B-schools. "In terms of Tier I of B-schools, (the number of) jobs from domestic MNCs have risen sharply. So, salary levels have gone up. We are still some way from the 2007-08 levels, though," says K. Pandia Rajan, Managing Director, Ma Foi Group and Randstad India, a staffing and executive search major.

Students at MDI were faced with a happy dilemma: choosing between high salary and a good profile. "Sectors such as IT, consultancy and FMCG, which didn't visit last year, have participated this time. Besides, sectors like logistics, microfinance and energy, which never came to MDI before, hired many students in 2010… there was lot of choice for students," says N.R. Bhusnurmath, Dean, Placement & Corporate Affairs, MDI. He expects the trend to continue. "Salaries will increase 25-30 per cent in the next year's placement season," he says.

Shashank Mutalik, 24, MDI, Gurgaon. Joins Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages as Management Trainee Key Job Pull: Profile and brand "If you have a sound career trajectory in place, compensation will follow"

Rohan Mahajan, 23, IIM-Calcutta. Working as Management Associate with Citigroup Key Job Pull: Employer brand and peer group "I had aspirations only in terms of company brand and the people I would work with"

Vikas K Bansal, 26, IIM-Bangalore. Working as Product Manager at NetApp Key Job Pull: Managerial role within technology industry "I wanted to graduate to a managerial role within the tech industry"

At the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) in Delhi, grads got mega bucks for their MBAs thanks to the return of foreign firms. "As far as salaries are concerned, new benchmarks have been created this year. Compared to last year, the average salaries have gone up by 43 per cent," says Munish Bhargava, Corporate and Placement Advisor, IIFT. In fact, no foreign company came to the IIFT campus last year, but this year 17 students have got jobs offers from foreign firms for postings abroad with the highest salary touching $150,000 a year (around Rs 70 lakh).

In 2009, nearly 30 per cent of IIFT students opted for jobs at public sector undertakings, or PSUs, because of job stability. This time, despite a significant hike in PSU salaries after the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations, only seven per cent of the students accepted PSU jobs. If the foreign companies continue to hire aggressively and India's GDP grows at above eight per cent, it is likely that there will be 10-15 per cent rise in salaries next year, predicts Bhargava.

Beyond foreign firms, the return of the big fish-banks, private equity companies and consulting giants-also buoyed the sentiment and pay packages for the grads, too. At IIM-Bangalore, the entire batch was placed in five days-half the time taken in a gloomy 2009. Last year's first-time recruiters were again on the prowl this year, but got smaller numbers.

"Last year, a lot of new companies got noticed because overseas recruiters vanished. In 2010, many of them have returned, even if the overall hiring numbers are smaller," says Prof. Jose P.D., the chairperson of Placements at IIM-B. The institute does not disclose salary details of final placements, but students and recruiters BT spoke to estimate a 20-30 per cent hike over last year.

The placement exuberance meant that grads like IIM-B's Vikas K. Bansal, 26, got the niche role that they were so keen on. Bansal was hired by IT storage company NetApp for its research and development centre as a product manager.

"I wanted to graduate to a managerial role within the technology industry," he says. Ask him about the mood and atmosphere at campus when placements took place and he's quick to point out the sea change this year.

IIFT's Atul Bansal was in for a pleasant surprise. On Day Zero, the most-coveted slot of placements, created by top B-schools to accommodate big recruiters, Atul was offered job as Young Leader, Sales & Marketing, by Bharti Airtel at a salary of Rs 11.5 lakh per year. He was also given a joining bonus of Rs 75,000. "I was not expecting such a major rebound because even before the 2009 placements, when the times were good, the average compensation package offered at IIFT was around Rs 10 lakh," he says.

Some, like Bhavani Shankar, 37, from the Class of 2010 at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, decided to put career choice before salary. Around January this year, he got the highest domestic job offer at that time at campus from a leading microfinance company.

"The job was to head its pan-India operations but I opted out and chose to work instead for a promising start-up," he says, though it meant a much lower pay packet at Redpine Signals, the wireless systems start-up that he decided to join. "The role here was more exciting-the sales and business development account for the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions…I also found the people here very intellectually oriented and professionally driven," he says.

With wannabe managers making informed and mature choices, recruiters sure got the best bang for their buck this placement season.

- Additional reporting by E. Kumar Sharma, Rahul Sachitanand and Manu Kaushik