While her classmates were busy preparing for the final placements at IIM-Calcutta, Ridhi Agarwal was dreaming a different world — an online grocery store.
Besides the conviction that entrepreneurship is in her blood, what gave Ridhi the courage to strike out was the deferred placement programme offered by her alma mater. This programme allows her to join the campus placement programme a year later, if her venture does not click.
This scheme, also offered by other premier management institutes such as IIM-Ahmedabad, XLRI Jamshedpur, IIM-Bangalore and ISB-Hyderabad, has given wings to the dreams of many like Ridhi, and helped promote the spirit of entrepreneurship among students. The option also encourages students to try out careers based on their interests.
In these times of a global economic slowdown, the deferred placement programme has come as a boon to many students who want to start their own ventures.
For instance, Alosies George, an alumnus of IIM-Calcutta, followed his passion for teaching and opted out of summer placements to join ‘Think and Learn’, a study centre in Bangalore. He will take the deferred placement option in the final placements while pursuing teaching.
Since the introduction of the placement holiday programme at IIM-A in 2007, 61 students have used this platform to start their own ventures. “Of this, six have returned to take part in the campus placement process. From the graduating batch of 2013, seven students have already opted to pursue entrepreneurial ventures,” said Kirti Sharda, Chairperson, Placements, IIM-A.
Started in 2011, IIM-Calcutta’s deferred placement programme has seen a similar trend. “The programme is available to all IIM-C students during the final placement season and on opting for it they are allowed to return to the campus after a year to sit through the placement process with the next batch. There are no enrolment criteria for it,” said Deep Patel, Head of Entrepreneurship Cell at IIM-C. This year, nine students of IIM-C opted out of placements to pursue their own venture.
Ridhi Agarwal’s venture, started with an investment of Rs 5 lakh, is already six months old and doing well.