Thursday, January 18, 2007
How about a date with your employer?
Economic Times - 18th Jan 2007
Champagne, flowers and a sumptuous dinner — your idea of a perfect date? Well, it is a date alright, but this time with your future company. Wooing the best talent has now become increasingly competitive. Reason enough for companies to use all their charms as they woo the most competent students.
While attractive salaries, joining bonuses and profiles are important, companies are now cashing in on making the first ‘lasting’ impression. They are increasingly getting innovative when it comes to doling out freebies at the B-schools while on recruitment drives. Gifts are handed out to all who can attend, getting grander as a students climbs up the recruitment ladder. Freebies include wireless mouses and table clocks (Deutsche Bank), mini rugby balls (UBS), coffee mugs (Barclays) and bags (RIL).
And, if you want to sample what your company makes, you can pick and choose from an array of products that Cadbury, Nestle, HLL, Pepsi and Coke get on campus. From knowing the products to understanding the companies, students are also treated to high teas and pizza sessions, where the environment is informal and less stressful. “We allow the students to understand the company better at these sessions without the added stress of making it through,” said a recruiter.
“I feel companies do this so that they can give out the right message. We feel that the company that makes a special effort will have good HR policies and a hospitable work environment. Although, it is difficult to know if it tilts the balance in their favour, I do think these efforts make the students feel good,” Pravin Devanathan, a first-year student of IIM-Lucknow. “The idea is to attract a greater number of students by showing them how well they can take care of them,” said Prashanth Swaminathan, ex recruitment co-ordinator at IIM-Calcutta.
A student, who makes it to a company’s shortlist or receives employment offer, is party to a grander celebration. And it is not just B-school students who are getting a piece of the pie. “A student who got recruited with McKinsey was sent a birthday cake and taken out for a dinner that cost the company nearly Rs 14,000. It really was a grand feast,” said a student from IIT Kharagpur. Not just birthday cakes, sometimes champagne and flowers are sent to the campuses for students on their birthdays!
In fact, for the first time this year, one of the recruiters at IIM Ahmedabad flew down a few of the shortlisted students to the company’s new year celebration party. A company that is recruiting from IIM-Bangalore is flying down shortlisted candidates to Delhi for an interaction.
Truly, these are changing times on all these campuses. “Now, with increased manpower demand and need to have higher visibility on campus, the companies are doling out freebies. But during late 1980s we hardly had many companies distributing freebies on campus,” says Manek Daruwala, director of TIME who passed out of IIM-A in 1987. However, there is a flip side to companies going overboard with their recruitment drive. “Faculty members are concerned when it comes to companies going overboard with their products on campus. The idea is not to turn the campus into a trade fair during recruitments. But it is difficult for us to decide where to draw a line,” said Saurav Mukherjee, chairman, placement committee, IIM-Bangalore.
Champagne, flowers and a sumptuous dinner — your idea of a perfect date? Well, it is a date alright, but this time with your future company. Wooing the best talent has now become increasingly competitive. Reason enough for companies to use all their charms as they woo the most competent students.
While attractive salaries, joining bonuses and profiles are important, companies are now cashing in on making the first ‘lasting’ impression. They are increasingly getting innovative when it comes to doling out freebies at the B-schools while on recruitment drives. Gifts are handed out to all who can attend, getting grander as a students climbs up the recruitment ladder. Freebies include wireless mouses and table clocks (Deutsche Bank), mini rugby balls (UBS), coffee mugs (Barclays) and bags (RIL).
And, if you want to sample what your company makes, you can pick and choose from an array of products that Cadbury, Nestle, HLL, Pepsi and Coke get on campus. From knowing the products to understanding the companies, students are also treated to high teas and pizza sessions, where the environment is informal and less stressful. “We allow the students to understand the company better at these sessions without the added stress of making it through,” said a recruiter.
“I feel companies do this so that they can give out the right message. We feel that the company that makes a special effort will have good HR policies and a hospitable work environment. Although, it is difficult to know if it tilts the balance in their favour, I do think these efforts make the students feel good,” Pravin Devanathan, a first-year student of IIM-Lucknow. “The idea is to attract a greater number of students by showing them how well they can take care of them,” said Prashanth Swaminathan, ex recruitment co-ordinator at IIM-Calcutta.
A student, who makes it to a company’s shortlist or receives employment offer, is party to a grander celebration. And it is not just B-school students who are getting a piece of the pie. “A student who got recruited with McKinsey was sent a birthday cake and taken out for a dinner that cost the company nearly Rs 14,000. It really was a grand feast,” said a student from IIT Kharagpur. Not just birthday cakes, sometimes champagne and flowers are sent to the campuses for students on their birthdays!
In fact, for the first time this year, one of the recruiters at IIM Ahmedabad flew down a few of the shortlisted students to the company’s new year celebration party. A company that is recruiting from IIM-Bangalore is flying down shortlisted candidates to Delhi for an interaction.
Truly, these are changing times on all these campuses. “Now, with increased manpower demand and need to have higher visibility on campus, the companies are doling out freebies. But during late 1980s we hardly had many companies distributing freebies on campus,” says Manek Daruwala, director of TIME who passed out of IIM-A in 1987. However, there is a flip side to companies going overboard with their recruitment drive. “Faculty members are concerned when it comes to companies going overboard with their products on campus. The idea is not to turn the campus into a trade fair during recruitments. But it is difficult for us to decide where to draw a line,” said Saurav Mukherjee, chairman, placement committee, IIM-Bangalore.
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