E-commerce sites have flocked to the premier B-schools particularly IIMs for campus recruitment this year.
The trend-setting move was a win-win for both the private equity backed e-tailers and B-schools who were anticipating lower opportunities in sectors such as finance and investment banking this placement season.
With a view to spreading their wings through professional managers, these sites have been making offers for mid-level management posts with specialisation in warehouse, logistics and support chain management, analytics and online marketing of products.
IIM-Kozhikode confirmed that sites such as Amazon, ebay, Flipkart and Yebhi.com have been some of the first time recruiters. Recruiters across other IIMs include SnapDeal, Naaptol and Lenskart. According to Mr Kashyap Vadapalli, Director, Category and Business Development, eBay India, without a brand value, start-ups might find it difficult to recruit people from the markets. “This makes them go to IIMs. e-bay has built a brand over the years,” he added.
Flipkart, however, has a different take. “We have been hiring from the IIMs for the past couple of years. The response has been extremely positive. Talent from these colleges have an extra edge,” Mr Sujeet Kumar, President-Operations, Flipkart, said.
Offers
While Flipkart has made 23 offers across IIMs (it has 40 IIM grads so far); start-ups like Lenskart or relatively older players like Snapdeal have also made their presence felt at campus recruitments.
Snapdeal, making its debut at IIMs this year, has made 10 offers across IIMs –Lucknow (4), Calcutta (4) and Bangalore (2). A little over a year-old Lenskart – an online eyewear store – has come up with eight offers. Six of them are at IIM (Indore) while two at IIM (Lucknow).
“Overall we made 12 offers of which eight have been confirmed,” Mr. Peyush Bansal, Founder, Lenskart said.
According to Mr Amith JM, student's placement committee co-ordinator at IIM-Ahmedabad, the institute has witnessed significant participation from e-commerce companies this year. The huge private equity investments have necessitated the need for professional managers.
Other B-schools
Some of the e-tailers are also looking at other premier B-schools. Flipkart confirmed its willingness to recruit from SP Jain, FMS and Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT).
“We missed out on recruitments at IIMs as most of the slots were taken. We might go to Narsee Monjee with around 10-odd offers,” Mr Sachin Singhal, head (e-commerce), Naaptol, said. Naaptol has made three offers at IIM (Calcutta) this year.
XLRI confirmed the receipt of a couple of offers from e-tailers this year. The institute is also planning to tweak its curriculum for catering to specific industries.