Return of good times? Top business schools start receiving PPOs

Major companies like Hindustan Unilever, Aditya Birla Group, L&T, Godrej & Boyce, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu extend pre-placement offers
The last MBA placement season at business schools in India was eclipsed by the global downturn, but the sun is smiling bright now with PPOs pouring in at top business schools! After IIMs, XLRI, and We School reported excellent PPOs (pre-placement offers) from major corporate houses, students have heaved a sigh of relief.
“Until now, majority of the PPOs have come from the consulting sector along with a few from Banking and FMCG sectors,” Professor Jose, Chairperson- Placement at IIM Bangalore said, while talking to MBAUniverse.com. Other than IIM Bangalore, IIM Indore and IIM Calcutta students also received good PPO offers. Speaking to MBAUniverse.com, IIM Calcutta said, “Although the exact number of PPOs is not available, we can confirm that until now we have got PPOs from most sectors like Investment Banking, Marketing and Consulting. IIM Calcutta had the best summer placements across all IIMs and is hoping to maintain the same.”
XLRI School of Business and Human Resources, too, reported excellent PPOs and pre-placement interviews this year. Almost 10% of the batch of 2008-10 has already been placed. The prominent organizations offering PPOs to XLRI students include FMCG major Hindustan Unilever and General Management companies like TAS and Aditya Birla Group, L&T, Times Group and WNS among others. Fr. E Abraham, S.J., XLRI Director said, “We are expecting more offers from Financial and Consulting sectors in addition to the ones offered during the months of August and September ’09 as most hiring decisions are finalized during the second quarter.”
Mumbai-based We School has received a number of PPOs too. We School said, “This year seven We School students have received PPO offers until now and more offers are expected.” According to We School, their students have received PPOs from companies like Networth Stock Broking Ltd., Godrej & Boyce and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
And, this is just the beginning! PPOs generally start pouring in at top business schools from September, which is usually two-three months after the completion of summer project. PPOs keep coming in until the beginning of the final placement season. At IIMs, however, there is no fixed time frame. IIM Bangalore said, “The declaration of the PPO results can happen anytime from the end of the Summer Internship (June) till the starting of the Final Placements (March of following year). Different companies have different work calendars. From our past experience we have seen that most companies come out with their results in September-October.”
Directors at top business schools in India feel PPOs are a sign of the good times ahead. XLRI Director said, “With improved signs of recovery in the economy, students are hopeful of better placements and internships.” On the prospective of final placements, Prof. Jose said, “While we would not like to speculate about anything at this moment in time we continue to be optimistic in our outlook given the positive trends being observed in the economy of late.”
We School said, “The economic scenario has not changed drastically, although we can see the markets recovering gradually. Hence we believe companies will continue being selective about campuses and students and look for that extra bit the student can bring into the organization.” While packages may still not go back to what they were a year ago, 2010 will definitely see a better placement season.
MBAUniverse.com News Bureau Aug 18, 2009.