The article below is from yesterday's Times of India. It looks like these jobs are for analyst level positions and in many instances these jobs would go to MBAs from the IIMs, atleast till a few years ago, even though MBAs from the IIMs did enjoy associate level offers too. From that perspective, its a plus for IIT grads to be able to make an entry at the analyst level and then move up to an associate level in 2,3,5 years based on performance. However, an MBA, specially from a top 10 is more than just about the first job on graduation so I am not quite sure that securing a $100k investment management position from IIT makes the MBA experience redundant. Afterall, there are several bankers, consultants and entrepreneurs who give up low to mid $100K packages (some even more) for the 2 year b-school experience, not just for the education and on-campus job placements but for the lifelong success potential, network, friendships and access to those elite clubs.
_________________________________
MAY 14th, NEW DELHI: Brand IIT may have just got bigger. This year, for the first time, investment firms, which usually hire management graduates from Princeton, Wharton and MIT, were seen knocking on the doors of IIT Delhi to recruit engineering graduates for finance jobs. The annual pay packages are in the range of $60,000-100,000 . the same amount that a Wharton or MIT graduate for the same position would be offered. Out of the batch of 450, about 25 have got offers from I-banks like Merrill Lynch, PIMCO, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, UBS and Lehman Brothers.
Rachit Jain,who has got an offer of $100,000 from Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), is elated. "I had planned to do an MBA and only then was I expecting to be made such a lucrative offer. Had this not worked out, my career would have charted a different course.' Geetanjai Mittal, an associate with Merrill Lynch, said: "We usually hire students from MIT, Wharton and IIMs, and many of them have an IIT degree too. So this year, we decided that we might as well hire directly from IIT.' Students are essentially being hired for finance jobs . which have traditionally been considered the preserve of MBA students. "An MBA degree is not mandatory for these jobs.What's actually required are number-crunching skills which are well-possessed by these engineering students," added Mittal. What this also means is that many of these students have quit the idea of pursuing an MBA since it would be precisely for such jobs that they would want that degree.
Akhilesh Chaudhary, who has got an offer from Merrill Lynch, has dropped plans to go to IIM Bangalore where he had been selected. "I've been offered an annual package of $60,000, plus a $10,000 sign-on bonus and performance-based incentives, and I'll most probably be posted in London or New York. So this just changes my career plans,' he says. Amit Aggarwal, who has been offered the position of an analyst at Merrill Lynch, says: "If I went into management after this, it would be because that would allow me to shift into finance. I had got a job with Google, Bangalore and after a few years of work experience, would have gone in for an MBA. Now all these plans appear to be pretty much redundant.'
