Concern over high drop-out rate of IIM-B graduates

The high drop-out rate among graduates of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), who take job offers from global firms during the campus selections, has become a source of concern for the Institute authorities.

A staggering 40 per cent of IIM-B graduates, who accepted jobs at the campus selections during the last two years, are reported to have quit within months of joining. The high drop-out rate has been attributed to a lack of understanding about the nature of job among the graduates before they accept the offer. Many new recruits appear to be disillusioned with the job within months and put in their papers.

The IIM-B authorities said the placement cell of the Institute is planning to introduce counselling sessions before placements and final recruitment. IIM-B officials also believe that often the communication-gap between the new recruits and the employers leads to the drop-out.

During the year 2006, out of the 45 pre-placement job offers, 17 were accepted. But, ten of them had dropped out after six months at the global firm. IIM-B Chairman Sourav Mukherji has emphasized the importance of proper counselling before placements. “Lack of compatibility has been analysed as the reason for students to leave jobs within a few months. These students take a chance and take up the offer, though their area of interest is something else”, he said.

Mukherji also felt that the duration of recruitment was very short. “Many multinational companies come together, and most of the time students accept the job in a haste, without thinking of long-term goals”, he said.

He said IIM-B seeks to provide information about every student to the global firm. “We provide a student’s academic profile, including marks obtained and grades in projects so that the company can analyze the student’s ability to peform”, he said.