Google, Microsoft among top B-school employers, Report

The FMCG sector, for the third year running, has been voted by B-school students as the most coveted for employment, with HUL topping the list as the most preferred recruiter, according to the Campus Track Business School survey 2012, conducted by Nielsen.

According to the survey, the FMCG sector (29%) came out on top, followed by management consulting (24%), e-commerce (20%), IT product & development (19%) and large business conglomerates (16%). 

In its 13th year now, the nationwide study which measures and monitors student perceptions in relation to their career preferences and potential recruiters, was conducted across 35 leading B-schools in India with 1500 respondents from the Class of 2013. 

Foreign banks have dropped from 22 percent last year, to 15 per cent this year. Last year, almost a quarter respondents (24% in 2011), had cited investment banking as a preferred sector, this year, less than one in five (15% in 2012) have preferred it as a sector. 

"While the FMCG sector still is fairly attractive for business students, other traditional sectors such as foreign banks, IT consultancy, investment banking are being interspersed with new entrants like e-commerce, media and entertainment", said Dinesh Kapoor, ED, Nielsen India in a release. 

"This shift in trend highlights the exposure, and exploratory nature of the young people of today, even though the returns, or salary might not be as high as the other finance based sectors," he said. 

FMCG (31%), e-commerce (30%), automobile (20%), financial institutions/ credit rating agencies (19%) were cited as sectors with a high growth potential. Advertising and market research (18%) along with healthcare (18%) and IT product and development (18%) are also industries that are looking attractive as industries of the future. 

Based on the CRI (Campus Recruiter Index) developed by Nielsen, HUL is the most preferred recruiter, followed by Google (2nd) and Procter & Gamble (3rd). IT biggies Google, Accenture (5th) and Microsoft (8th) feature in the top 10 list of recruiters as do management consulting firms McKinsey & Co (7th) and BCG (8th). At ninth position, Citigroup is the only global banking organisation that features in the list, Aditya Birla Group is the only large conglomerate to feature in the ranking at number four, while social networking site Facebook enters the top 10 at number six. 

For the fourth year running, HUL (30%) tops the list of 'Dream Companies', followed by Procter & Gamble (2nd with 20%) and Google (3rd with 15%). Indian conglomerates Tata Administrative Service (4th with 11%), Reliance Industries Ltd (6th with 9%) and Aditya Birla Group (10th with 7%) also make it into the Top 10 list of 'Dream Companies' 

The average salary expectations from a 'Dream Company' from the Class of 2013 is Rs 14.5 lakh per annum, marginally lower than the Rs 15 lakh number from the Class of 2012. The salary expectations from a foreign company is Rs 22.3 lakh.