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Foreign MBAs find India hot
(Ecomonic Times, The (India) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 13--AHMEDABAD, India -- Move over IIM grads. It's time to roll out the red carpet for graduates from top global business schools, Harvard to Yale and Wharton to Kellogg.
An incredibly booming Indian economy has caught the eyes of students at the world's top B-schools. So, while the odd IIM grad still makes it to the headlines year after year for grabbing a plum job in New York or London, slowly and steadily students from foreign B-schools are making their way into corporate India. And Indian companies, who are much in need of the world's best talent in booming times, are welcoming them with open arms. Some are even visiting foreign university campuses to woo these students.
Sample this. Last year alone, about 40 students from these B-schools, including a few foreign nationals, undertook internships in India. And this year the figure is expected to go up markedly. So far, final placements from these B-schools in India have been confined to Indian students coming back after finishing their MBA but more foreign nationals, including children of Indians settled overseas are now willing to work in India.
"There is a tremendous bullishness for India since it is growing at over 8 percent compared to whole of Europe which is growing at less than 4 percent. It is obvious that such high growth will also give opportunity for growth in career," Mark Kahn, a student at Harvard Business School and treasurer of South Asia Business Association, told ET over the phone. He said that the student body of the B-school has been set up specifically to help students find jobs in India.
"I would definitely recommend a summer stint in India to get their feet wet if they have aspirations to work in that part of the world. Also, these days marketing decisions require a global mindset and the best way to develop this is by emerging themselves in that culture," Prof Ravi Dhar of Yale Business School told ET in an email.
The new-found interest in India has come handy to Indian firms, especially FMCG companies which are seen to be fading away from the radar screens of students of top Indian B-schools. Marico Industries is planning to visit the Yale University campus this year to recruit, says the company's HR head Pankaj Bhargava.
So is Reliance Industries, which will go to the IIM-Ahmedabad campus for the final placements for the first time next year, but is already on the prowl in foreign universities. A source says, "RIL is looking for talent from some of the world's best B-schools." Infosys, MphasiS, Tata Group, among other Indian firms are also hiring graduates from foreign universities. Many global firms like McKinsey and Acumen Fund are also hiring for their India positions.
Mr Kahn says that in the past one he has seen a sea-change in the Harvard students' outlook towards India. "More students are today wanting to work in India. Last year, 15-20 students opted to take up summer internship assignments with Indian companies of which at least five were foreign nationals," he says.
This year, the internship assignments will be finalised by April and the B-school expects many more students to take up summer assignments this year. In addition, the B-school now sends a team of 100 students, mostly foreign nationals, to visit India and meet policy makers and top industrialists to understand the business opportunity here. "All these activities have brought graduates closer to India and exposed them of the strength of India," says Mr Kahn.
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