Pinnacle

India’s premier colleges are going downmarket... No, actually, the creamy layer of India Inc is getting redefined. A buoyant economy is throwing up a slew of fast-growing sectors.

As a result, IIMs are seeing the arrival of a new breed of recruiters at their campuses engaged businesses such as real estate, retail, commodity exchange, pharmaceuticals, private equity, agri business and infotech, among others.

The shift in trend is most visible at the top three IIMs. Students with a taste for the well-paid investment banking and banking jobs are suddenly diversifying their interests. Companies from the emerging fast-growing sectors like retail, real estate and private equity are started showing up at the campuses.

Among the new faces were Unitech, Tesco, Mahindra and DTZ and companies such as IDFC, Reliance Retail, RPG Retail, Roulac Global Places. Start-ups like Paresec Technologies, Global Ink, Bharat Matrimony have also hoped onto the bandwagon.

About five real estate consulting firms have already visited the IIM Ahmedabad campus for recruitment. “An increasing number of students are looking for jobs in the infrastructure and real estate sector. It was never a preferred sector earlier, but the preferences are changing fast,” says Jatin Matani, student placement coordinator at IIM-A.

Some majors, including Dr Reddy’s are also spreading their reach. This year the company is visiting IIM-Kozhikode. It has earlier visited IIM-A, B and C for placements. “While we are finding good talent, there is more excitement in campuses about the pharma sector as it’s considered ‘happening’,” says Prabir Das, global HR head of Dr Reddy’s.