Post-graduate students of National Institute of Bank Management (NIBM), Pune, are spoilt for choice. With four job offers on an average per student, the institute had to say no to a few banks, including HDFC Bank and Payments Corporation of India, that came looking for managers at the institiute.
These banks wanted to recruit NIBM’s Post-Graduate Programme in Banking and Finance course students, but there were no students available. On an average, each student of the ninth batch had job offers from four companies. Some students had six job offers in hand.
Principal and dean of the PG programme K Ramesha says 11 banks came to campus and absorbed all 41 students but one, who preferred going back to RBI.
NIBM, however, had to say no to all other banking institutes as the students were already placed.
NIBM allowed the students to appear for all interviews and left the final decision at the end of the day students had to decide which job they wanted. Students this year overwhelmingly chose public sector banks over private banks. The salary offered by public sector banks was R8 lakh and private banks was between R12 lakh and R15 lakh. Union Bank of India, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, Allahabad Bank, UCO Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank and Axis Bank picked up these 41 candidates. They will be getting in as credit specialists or risk managers and in the public sector banks they will be at middle manger level one stage above probational officers.
RBI governor D Subbarao had said at the convocation that students got four job offers because their predecessors who had passed out and gone to banks had done a good job. Ramesha says there is a big difference from a general MBA and the NIBM PGPBF student and they score better because they more prepared for the job. They take on responsibilities within 15 days and the general MBA needs six months of orientation and training, points out Ramesha.
A deficit in human capital is expected in the banks when close to 1.5 lakh retirements come up in public sector banks over the next one and a half to two years and NIBM is helping banks in planning their manpower needs, Ramesha said. There is good inflow at the entry level, but at the higher levels the inflow is not good and banks are looking to leadership development programmes for their top management.