ISB... Day 6

Day 5 ended at 1:30 am with informal gyan on management consulting (MC) by the alum. There was representation from all across..the Mckinseys, BCGs and Booz Allen. Bain and Monitor were the only 2 cos. from the top 10 which did not visit ISB. Most firms did not take into account the past work experience while assigning roles to candidates. It was more of junior/senior associate kind of a position, with most of it (roles) being subjective. 107 offers were made in the MC front with another 70 odd in the IT consulting front from players such as Capgemini, CTS etc.
Grades and Cases can make or break a top 5-7 consulting offer. After getting shorlisted, the firm conducts anywhere between 3+ rounds of PI (Personal Interview) + Cases in each round. Cases and Business Plan competitions help a student get shortlisted and will also give him/her the exposure to do well in the interviews. Other than extensive travelling and the inability in most cases to witness the implementation of the suggestion provided, MC is the perfect job to understand different functions and industry verticals.

Day 6 started with presentations from the Retail, Finance, BTC (business technology) and ECV(entreprenurship and venture capital) clubs. All were good. 7 students from the present batch are planning to venture out on their own and opted out of the placement process. ISB provides the flexibility for these students to sit with the next 2 batches for placements, in case the initiative flops. It also provides guidance and helps the entrepreuers network with the VC and Angels. The technologists had offers from Google, Microsoft in the sales and marketing and product/program management fronts. Indian IT cos. also visited the campus for various roles, from sales and marketing (Satyam had 4-5 offers in australia + singapore) to account management positions with Infosys. The Finance side only had 25 Ibanking offers. There were 48 retail banking offers, 6 PE offers and 8 Sales and Trading jobs. Overall, the numbers on the finance side were not that impressive. Additioanlly, bcoz of the subprime crunch, companies are looking for a financial background, lacking which will require extensive finance based activities on campus for the next 11 months, for a career switcher.

In the afternoon, our section (E), was introduced to its first Case. The way the discussion was carried forward by the proff. was remarkable. I had points noted down, which all targetted only one aspect of the problem. I was surprised to find 4 other equally important factors which required consideration to arrive at a solution. The most important lesson learnt was that no case has one right solution. Its the analysis and the logical handling of the problem that decides whether you succeed in cracking it. The students (arnd 70 odd) were hyperactive throughout, which was understandable as cases have nearly 50% weightage on an average for each subject. Morever, cases are critical for MC jobs. I had my hand up throughout the 2 hrs, that the case was being discussed but did not get an opprtunity to even twitch my tongue. Goes to show the brightness and enthusiasm of the batch. Not that I could not barge and interpret, but refrained myself from doing so as I have the maturity on my side to understand that this initial hyperactivitism and enthusuasm may not last beyond Day 10.
Then we had a session on leadership development and then a fun gyan session on the traditions and cultures of Section E by the alum. Activities in the night mainly included informal sessions on the different clubs (ecv, finance, btc). Then a big party followed, the last for the 08 batch, which must have continued till the wee hours today.

Day 7 already underway...

GoodBye