Multinationals recruit talent from lesser known institutions.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: The day of the small town has arrived in India. Top global information technology firms are now going beyond the corridors of the countries’ premium educational institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and have now zeroed in on lesser known colleges, luring in talent from the hinterlands with a delectable combination of huge pay packets, international assignments, joining bonuses and perks.
For example top notch companies like Amazon, Google, PepsiCo, Oracle, Deloitte, Adobe, DE Shaw, Flipkart, Direct-i, Caterpillar, Future First and IBM are making offers from Delhi to Vellore and from Mehsana to Jadavpur. Even lesser known private colleges in the metros have been tapped
The starting salaries these MNCs are offering are mind-boggling by any standards. Take the case of KS Sukruth from National Institute of Technology (NIT) situated in the dusty town of Warangal, Andhra Pradesh where he pursues an engineering course. Sukruth has been recruited by none other than Microsoft for a whopping $100,000 for an overseas posting.
After Sukruth hit the jack pot, three of his batch mates snapped up jobs with Epic Systems, a US-based firm that makes software for healthcare companies, with similar salaries. Close on the heels of Sukruth, his junior K Gopi Krishna bagged a dream job recently with social networking site Facebook for an annual salary of $135,000 (approximately Rs. 84.6 lakh) during the ongoing placements – a record for the institute. Amazon, Google, PepsiCo and more such marquee employers wooed students from NIT Warangal with salaries in the Rs. 8-20 lakh range. Global IT services major IBM also hired 85 students from the institute this year.
Priyanshu Kumar Jha who secured a bachelor’s degree in information technology from UV Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University, Mehsana, was roped in by Microsoft for a huge $180,000 salary plus incentives and would work at the software giant’s US headquarters at Redmond, Washington.
Meanwhile, at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Japanese firm Works Applications has come calling with a Rs. 35 lakh offer. Although the company picked up only one student last year at a similar package, this time it’s expected to hire more. Amazon has offered seven students a salary of Rs. 17 lakh each this year while Yahoo! will hire students for Rs 14-15 lakh this year.
Google USA offered a Delhi Technological University (DTU) student an annual pay package of Rs. 93 lakh during campus placement. The offer was made to Himanshu Jindal, 21. He is expected to join the search engine’s US office next year. Other job offers for DTU students include those in Goldman Sachs and in Amazon, to eight students, with handsome salary and perks.
Future First and IBM are making offers this year at non-IIT campuses in Vellore, Madurai and Mesra, and also at private colleges in Delhi and Bangalore. Placement heads at these colleges say companies are hiring more than last year. Amazon, Google, PepsiCo and more such marquee employers wooed students at NIT Warangal with salaries in the Rs. 8-20 lakh range.
At the Vellore Institute of Technology, Flipkart beat Amazon and Google with a Rs. 12.5 lakh package, while Microsoft offered Rs. 10.5 lakh. Another e-commerce firm, PayPal, hired for Rs. 8.25 lakh. Others such as Schneider, Cisco and Thoughtworks are offering Rs. 6-10 lakh. Not to be left out, DE Shaw came armed with a package of Rs. 14.5 lakh and Amazon has given students a retention bonus of Rs. 1 lakh after a year.
“We are here to compete with MNCs such as Google, Yahoo and Adobe since we need students with similar caliber,” said Aparna Ballakur, HR head for Flipkart. The e-commerce company will pick up its fresh batch from IITs, BITS Pilani, NITs and VIT.
At the Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, IT product companies like Microsoft, Facebook and Direct-I have absorbed many students with packages which are 15-20% higher than last year. IBM hired 154 students from the 2013 batch at Madurai-based Thiagarajar College of Engineering, compared to 90 last time.
“It’s a question of supply and demand which cannot be met by going only to IITs,” says Yugesh Goutam, executive director of KEC International, the infrastructure firm of the RPG Group.
“When we have to hire 1000, it is not possible to take them only from the IITs, which only have a handful,” says P Thiruvengadam, senior director, Deloitte India. “Also, tier-II and III colleges are important because they give us a good mix of students from different cultures,” he adds. And most of all students from these institutions come with a high aptitude and a high emotional quotient too, as one recruiter puts it.
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