NewIndpress

Bangalore, Feb 28: A staggering 40 percent of IIM-B graduates, who accepted offers from global firms at the campus selection, have quit their jobs within months, in the last two years.

The IIM-B is now devising ways to bring the number of drop-outs down so that its pre-placement exercises are meaningful.

While global firms have shown immense interest in IIM-B graduates, many new recruits appear to get disillusioned with the overseas jobs and return home to work in India. IIM-B officials believe that often the communication-gap leads to the drop out.

Most employers are investment banks, consultant firms, and financial services. There seems to be a lack of proper understanding about the nature of the job among sections of graduates before they accept the offer.

The IIM-B sources said that students leave the job within two to three months after recruitment. To counter this, the placement cell intends to introduce steps to improve the counselling sessions before placements and final recruitment.

In 2006, out of the 45 pre-placement job offers, 17 were accepted, where in 10 students dropped out after six months of job at the global firm.

IIM-B Chairperson, Placement cell, Sourav Mukherji feels that students require better counselling before placements.

``Lack of compatibility has been analysed as the reason for students to leave jobs within few months. These students take a chance and take up the offer, though their area of interest is something else,'' he told this website's newspaper.

Mukherji said that the institute was constantly trying to improve the pre-placement processes. ``The duration of recruitment is very short. Many MNCs come together, and most of the time students accept the job offer in haste, without thinking of long term goals,'' he added.

The strategy that IIM-B has devised is not being followed by most management schools. It seeks to provide information about every student to the global firms. ``We provide a student's academic profile, including marks obtained, grades in projects so that the company can analyse the student's ability to perform,'' he added. But one thing is certain, the duration of pre-placements ought to be stretched, Mukherji said.

Most of these students are freshers, who have had no prior experience before IIM. Despite having interned with the firms for two months during summer internships, the students are unable to understand their mind, he said.