An update on my previous post. Several people wrote in to clarify that the CV fudger did get punished.
"The person was issued an Out of Placement service ticket (OOPS) and the firm where he had received a PPO earlier was also duly notified... The only action that was NOT taken was expulsion of the student from the institute."
I am glad to hear that - it sends out the right signals against such behaviour.
Some of you made a point about me 'glorifying' the fact that Gaurav Mathur did not fudge a certificate. I don't agree.
The point is the certificate was a mere technical requirement. There is no doubt that Gaurav would have genuinely completed it in a month or two - so fudging would have bought him the time and allowed him to keep his seat.
That is why it was a bigger dilemma.
The problem of some universities not completing their session in time is not new. It existed way back in 1991 when I joined IIM-A. It's about time the authorities concerned addressed the issue and did not penalise students.
A deferred admission could easily be granted while offering the lost seat to someone on the waiting list!
Lastly there is the issue of MBA institutes wilfully inflating placement salaries. Yes, something needs to be done about this.
Several people have left comments and sent me emails pointing a finger at IIM Bangalore. The charge is that the average salary figure released by IIM B in March 2006 was originally Rs 8.7 or 9 lakhs. But after other institutes released their figures, it climbed to Rs 9.8 lakhs - the highest across all IIMs.
How? An IIM student points out:"They had conveniently included a clause stating that only salaries of those who had agreed to disclose were accounted for! This means the bottom 20% can peacefully be ignored for calculation as they would have "not wanted" to disclose salaries..."
I think it's fairly simple to arrive at 'correct' placements figures. All the institutes must agree on a single method of computing averages and allow the process to be externally certified.
But this means that institutes have to get over their obsession with making headlines like "IIMX student gets 95 lakh offer" . And also stop judging their self worth by 'beating' everyone else when it comes to the average salary figure.
Perhaps IIM B has something to say in its defence - I would be glad to hear it. The idea of airing these issues in a public forum is to generate debate on this subject much before the placement season.
One method that could be adopted to ensure greater transparency in placement figures:
- Average salary for students with 0-2 years experience (basically freshers)
- Average salary for those with 2-5 years experience ('junior lateral')
- Average salary for those with 5 years plus experience ('senior lateral')
Of course Indian and foreign salaries should continue to be mentioned separately. And lowest salary figures must be released as well.
Media needs to be a little less gaga and a little more critical as well.
And yes, all this applies not just to IIMs but all MBA institutes. Coz inflation is something a lot of b schools are indulging in.
To take things a step further, there are instances of lesser known institutes who are 'tying up' with HR heads of certain companies to ensure their students get placed. Yeah, they actually keep aside a separate budget for this purpose.
The larger question that begs to be asked: is a bschool in the business of education or merely a glorified job placement agency?
