MBA Job Market: Opportunities in India Predicted to Rise

Learn more about MBA salaries in the QS Jobs and Salary Trends report

As the MBA job market appears to have recovered from recent recessionary times, experts are predicting that the MBA job market in India is set to blossom more so than most.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) Global Management Education Graduate Survey, the 2011 global job market for business school graduates “has rebounded from 2010 levels."

The survey found that 54% of all graduate business students seeking employment received at least one job offer at the time of the survey, compared to only 32% of their peers at this time in 2010.

In India, “the job market for business school graduates is far more aggressive in comparison to last year,’’ explains Dhananjay Bansod, chief people officer for Deloitte in India.

The MBA graduates getting good offers and higher salaries are those you graduated from top institutions. The two sectors with the most opportunities are services and finance.

"Though the scenario will be much clearer in a month or so, the positive aspect is that management graduates seeking employment from reputable business schools can at least boast of one or more job offers.’’ Bansod adds.

India’s MBA employers embracing graduates

The QS Top MBA Jobs and Salary Trends report echoes the fact that Asia employers are “embracing MBAs as never before.”

The Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow (IIM-L), for example, achieved a work placement rate of for 100% for all 366 MBA graduates from the class of 2011. Over 200 companies made a total of 528 offers, including 53 first-time recruiters.

“There was a marked improvement in the placements that we achieved here at IIM-L in 2011 compared with 2010, both in terms of quality as well as the number of offers,’’ says Professor Rajesh Aithal, chairman of placements at IIM-L.

Finance firms participated in the placement week at IIM-L in a big way. Prominent participating financial firms included Amex, Avendus Capital, Axis Bank, Baring Private Equity Partners, CRISIL, DBS, and Edelweiss. This shows that the Indian financial services industry is quickly recovering from the credit crunch

According to Professor Kanwal Kapil, chairperson for placement affairs at the Management Development Institute (MDI), “The 2011 job market is full of optimism.

“As for MDI, more than 100 companies turned up to the campus to offer jobs. Speaking about MDI, there has never been a problem of compensation packages with our students.

"They get a good amount of pre-placement offers and pre-placement interviews. In fact the number of offers that the graduates get would also grow with the scale of expected salaries in the coming years.”

MBA job market positive and buoyant in India

Professor Bhimaraya Metri, dean designate at Strathclyde SKIL Business School says that since India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, there are a lot of job opportunities, as well as a variety of jobs available for MBA graduates.

“The job market is positive and we expect it to be further buoyant in the coming years,” he states, observing the market as the Greater Noida based offshoot of the UK’s Starthclyde Business School does not yet offer an MBA program.

On the job offer front, Vivek Mittal, business head and VP of recruitment at Recruitment Solutions, New Delhi, says that graduates from top business schools have definitely received more than one offer and they have better options to choose from in comparison to previous years.

“If we put a percentage increase in the salary, it would easily be above 20% plus compared to last year. Sectors like IT, pharmaceuticals, engineering and infrastructure, power, real estate and the like are performing very well and they require a large skilled workforce.

“The scenario is going to get better from here,’’ he predicts.

MBA jobs in India certainly enjoy a high status. The very fact that there has been a tremendous increase in recent years in the number of colleges and private institutions offering MBA programs shows that there is a profitable job market for aspirants.

“Though companies are inclined towards hiring management graduates who already have four to seven years of experience as they bring more value to any organization and are better equipped to take up the responsibilities, the overall prospects for management graduates is going to be better from here on,’’ says Mittal.