An Overview Of ISB Placement Trends Over The Years; What Are The Numbers Saying?

Founded by two ex-Deloitte executives, the Indian School of Business (ISB) offers a US-like business education in India. Unlike Indian B-schools which are affiliated with AICTE, ISB is affiliated with AACSB and is part of an illustrious list that includes the likes of Wharton School, Charlton School Of Business, and John Hopkins Carey Business School!    

ISB is also among the few Indian B-schools where GMAT scores are the primary criteria for admission. It offers a great opportunity for non-freshers candidates with 3 to 5 years of experience to pursue a PGP at par with the best international standards.  

Also read: Can MBA In Entrepreneurship Help You To Enter The 3rd Largest Startup Ecosystem In The World?  

The most important difference between ISB and other Indian B-schools lies in the curriculum structure. Due to the AACSB affiliation, ISB is free from bureaucratic interventions and ensures that contemporary trends in business are addressed in the course itself. 

This is one of the reasons why ISB has been consistently ranked in the top 10 to 25 by the Financial Times MBA ranking for ten back-to-back years.   

Is An Degree From ISB Worth it? 

Calculating The ROI Factor

One of the major arguments against a PGP from ISB is the Return On Investment factor. Compared to the hefty fee that students have to pay for a degree from ISB, the returns may not always be promising.  

The total fee for PGP at ISB is INR 33 Lakhs, and a lot of aspirants feel that with that money it might be more productive to pursue a degree abroad.   

The salaries offered during placements are quite competitive and at par with other top B-schools in India. ISB graduates usually get above INR 25 LPA each year, which is not very different from the IIMs.  

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In fact, during the 2022 final placements at ISB - a year of large-scale hiring and whooping CTCs in MBA placements, the average salary of the MBA batch at ISB was clocked at INR 34.07 LPA.   

Problems With Switching Careers

Another common complaint raised by ISB MBA grads is the difficulty they face in switching careers. Although salary-wise there is an upgrade after doing an MBA from ISB, students only get slightly higher positions in the corporate hierarchy.  

Candidates who aspire to work in a different industry also find it difficult to do so after a PGP from ISB. Many ex-students have complained that they have ended up in the same industry where they worked before their B-school degree.  

Other than that, the large class size- going as high as 800, has been a problem for many students.  

Analysis Of Placement Stats

The most striking feature of ISB is the diversity in batch composition. While engineers dominate in IIMs and Xavier’s group of colleges, students at ISB come from diverse backgrounds.   

However, despite the diversity, the placement numbers at ISB have consistently been above INR 25 Lakh in the last two years. Many experts suggest that the good numbers are a result of ISB’s deep connection with the corporate world.  

Sector-Wise Placement Stats At ISB

  Let’s look at some of the key sector-wise highlights from the ISB placements:  

• The BFSI sector has been a consistent recruiter across the years at the ISB with at least 10% of candidates joining this sector every year. 
• Consulting is also a major recruiter at the ISB placements hiring more than 20% of the batch every year.
• Hiring made by the IT/ITES sector has also remained above the 15% mark consistently.
• Rest of the sectors have witnessed the absorption of between 1% to 10% of students each year.
• A large number of students at ISB receive more than 2 offers due to which the total number of offers goes as high as 4 times the number of participating recruiters. 

Detailed Placement Trends At ISB Placements

How To Land The Ideal Job After PGP From ISB? 

The Student’s Point Of View

Indian School of Business (ISB) is a ‘two campus one college’ institute. Placements for both the campuses in Mohali and Hyderabad are held together in either of the two locations. The students from the other campus are flown into the placement location and kept in good hotels with a single room for every student.   

Anindita Dutta, an alumnus of PGP Operations and Marketing from ISB, and a senior product manager at Pegasystems now, has highlighted the importance of being thoroughly prepared for the placement process.   

Also read: ISB Placements 2022: PGP Batch Receives 2066 Offers; Average Salary INR 34.07 LPA  

“The number one mantra is: be prepared because there is no other shortcut to not being prepared,” Anindita says in a video on her YouTube channel. “If you’re not prepared, you are not going to make it, no matter how many shortlists you have, because the number of shortlists really doesn't matter,” she adds.  

Staying prepared for the interview in advance is extremely important because once the placement process nears, the candidates are occupied with several things. There would hardly be any time then to prepare the very basics.   

“You should be done with everything before September starts because after that you will be running from pillar to post, dealing with n number of things,” Anindita adds. “There would be deadlines, resume updating, PPP talks…. I mean you just don’t know what you have signed up for.”   

The Insider’s Point Of View

Praveen Kumar, the head of corporate relations at ISB has given a brief overview on how to prepare for the placement process. He summarized them in five points - we have listed them below.   

• Research: Finding out what the job demands - the requirements of the specific role and the work culture and ethic of the organization. Find out also a good number of reasons why you think you will be a good fit for the role. 

• Resume Preparation: Mapping out the skills on the resume is also an important part of the interview process. You should also keep in mind the requirements of the job and map your skills accordingly.

• Gap Analysis: In case you are applying for a particular job for which you don’t have the necessary skills and experience, then you should be prepared with an analysis of the gaps in your resume. Recruiters will inevitably find it out and a good explanation will be an inevitable part of the interview process. 

• Application Preparation: There are usually three to four stages in the application process, depending on the sector you’re applying for and the company. You should separately prepare for each of the stages keeping in mind the type of questions you might be asked.   

• Staying Calm: This point doesn’t need an explanation, but this is perhaps the most important part of the preparation process. Stay calm and execute the process to the best of your abilities.

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