Bank of Baroda plans to recruit 3,000 from B-School and Engineering/Agriculture colleges

This year IIM & IIT graduates are seriously considering careers with public sector banks. Mr M.D.Mallya, Chairman and Managing Director of Bank of Baroda told last year his bank had recruited around 50 officers from these premier institutions.

Also, during the last year the bank had recruited about 200 officers directly from various B-School and Engineering/Agriculture college campuses. Considering the last year experience, this year bank has decided to increase its intake to 300. Mr Mallya said, “Contributions from the new recruits has been huge and their adaptability to the public sector environment is admirable.”

When asked what motivated these B-school graduates to take up public sector jobs in spite of huge gap in salary levels (average salary for fresh MBAs offered by competition range between Rs 8 lakhs and Rs 10 lakhs), Mr Mallya said last year there was financial crisis and the lower intake by financial services firms was the reason behind change in the outlook of the B-school graduates. But he added, “The job market position has since improved. MNCs and financial services firms are recruiting again. But our attrition levels are low. That's a welcome change. That indicates that these recruits want to make a career in public sector banks.”

He further added, “Recruits also feel they get wider exposure at public sector banks with a large canvas. Working for an institution that is global gives you tremendous growth opportunities. For instance, in Bank of Baroda, we have 78 branches outside India — and this gives you the opportunity of being placed overseas which improves your horizon and knowledge base.”

Regarding the attrition levels in this cadre, he said, “We have not seen much of attrition. It has been about 25 per cent. This we have seen in the past also. That is not negative.”

While explaining about the bank’s recruitment plans, Mr Mallya said the bank will be recruiting about 2,500 to 3,000 people this year. Last year bank had recruited about 2,300 people (1,000 clerks and 1,300 officers). He added, “The recruitments are being done to replace retiring staff. Besides, our expansion plans and new branches require this recruitment on an on-going basis. We need specialists in various fields — credit, forex, IT, treasury, etc. Based on our current plans, our manpower strength, which is currently around 37,000, is expected to go up substantially in the next two to three years.”

Companies visited JBIMS for hiring interns

The Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS) witnessed active participation by regular recruiters during the recent internship placements for its 120 first-year management students.

Around eighty-eight companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, ITC, Britannia, Colgate Palmolive, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, ONGC, BPCL, and Tata Power, visited the institute for recruitment of interns.

Anupama Jain, JBIMS student and placement committee member informed, "The regular recruiters picked up in big numbers". Mohnish Jacob, another placement committee member pointed out, "The coming of diverse sectors and profiles on the campus is a very positive sign. Things are looking up." "The enthusiasm shown by the companies augurs well for the lateral and final placements".

This placement season various profiles were offered in sectors such as finance, marketing, operations and general management, including consulting, credit risk analysis, treasury, private equity, product development, sales and marketing.

The average stipend offered was around Rs48, 000, while the highest stipend offered was into six figures. Jain informed, "With an array of recruiters to choose from, the spotlight was on the profile, role, and alignment with long-term goals of the students".