What makes SPJIMRs Placements tick? Unique Admission Process, Autumn Placements and other mantras

The average salary for Final Placements 2018 at SPJIMR Mumbai was Rs 22.24 lakhs.This?compares well with top business schools such as the premier IIMs and XLRI..? Also,? the profiles offered on campus are among the most sought after in the industry with the recruiter list comprising of organisations that B-school graduates across the nation aspire to join.?How doSPJIMR students manage to convince India Inc to hire them, at top salaries? MBAUniverse.com finds out the success mantras... Apply Now
Before we delve deeper into the placement process at SPJIMR, lets review the recent Placements 2018 results.

Placements 2018 Highlights:

• Average salary shot up to Rs 22.24 lakhs from Rs 20.9 lakhs last year
• 30 per cent jump in the number of participants placed with marquee consulting firms
• Consulting and FMCG continued to be the dominant sectors of hiring
• 92% Students receive offers in excess of Rs 17 lakhs.
• Top Recruiters include BCG, Deloitte, HUL, P&G, PwC, SDC, Goldman Sachs, Airtel, DBS Bank, Amazon and TAS.

Comparison withIIMs
A quick comparison with top ranked IIMs will reveal that Placements at SPJIMR, Mumbai are close to IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Calcutta whereas they are much higher than IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode.

B-school
Average Placement 2018 (Rs. In lakhs)

IIM Ahmedabad
24.45

IIM Calcutta
24.20

SPJIMR Mumbai
22.24

IIM Indore
18.17

IIM Kozhikode
17.8

While there are many factors, this success can be attributed to three key areas at SPJIMR Mumbai: Profile-based student admissions, Unique teaching-learning methodology and Innovative placement approach.
Profile-based student admission is a unique process that was pioneered at SPJIMR and is yielding good results. The core belief is that entrance exam scores are not the only determinants of future leadership potential of a candidate.Candidates?in every batch possessa diverse set of skills - This is brought about a unique selection/admission procedure that looks beyond the ultra high scores demanded by other B-schools to look at other invaluable skills a candidate might have in their repertoire.?Candidates? are shortlisted for selection interviews even before the declaration of entrance test results, which shows that SPJIMR wishes to look at the candidates from a holistic perspective and not just focus on test scores.?SPJIMR uses unique teaching-learning methodology. SPJIMR is noted for pedagogic innovations and its mission of influencing practice and promoting value-based growth. We shall discuss this area in a subsequent article.

For now, lets focus on one unique innovation at SPJIMR that has resulted in strong placements the Autumn Placements.

Autumn Placements: A Unique Approach

While most B-schools focus to finalise summer internships for the students immediately on completion of second semester in the first year of their MBA/PGDM programme, SPJIMR has evolved the Autumn Placement process after third semester in the second year. SPJIMR sends its students for corporate internships after they have completed 18 months of study where they have completed the first year of foundational courses, and specialisation courses at the Institute. They would have also completed an internship with non-profit organization and advanced specialisation courses in a top international B-school or University. No wonder they stand out while doing their corporate internship!

Sharing about this innovative approach, Prof. Abbasali Gabula, Associate Director , External Relations said, Autumns projects are unique to SPJIMR and many more companies are buying into this idea. When all other campuses have summer projects between their first year and second year of studies, SPJIMR participants go for rural internships. Autumns projects are done in the second year post the specialisation courses and the Global Fast Track, which offers advanced courses in a top international university. Companies are very appreciative of the quality of output of eight weeks of project work.

Adds, Dr. Vasant Sivaraman, Professor and Chairperson PGDM Programme at SPJIMR Mumbai, Our PGDM participants pick their majors at the start of the programme and go on to complete specialisation in the area before they take up autumn placements. This allows for well-defined autumn internships that benefit both participants and corporates.

Close to Final Placements
Participants in Autumn Placements at SPJIMR stand out viz-a-viz other B-schools as by the time their Autumn internship is over, they are ready to pursue their career dream with final placements which starts shortly after. This translates into higher Pre-Placement-Offers (PPOs) as companies dont want to lose out on productive talent.

According to SPJIMR, more than 50per cent of the Class of 2018 received pre-placement offers and pre-placement interviews through their autumn internships at top companies which included leading corporates like Boston Consulting Group, Tata Administrative Services, HUL, P&G, Amazon, AxisBank, GE, AstraZeneca. The 81 PPOs were converted to final placement 2018.

Some of the Highlights of Autumn Placements 2018 are:

• 303 offers from 48 companies comprising 12 new Recruiters
• Average stipend has increased by 7.5% over last year and crossed Rs.1.98 lakhs
• E-commerce giant Amazon India emerged as the single largest recruiter. Other top recruiters include Cloudtail, Asian Paints, BCG, Colgate Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever, P&G, Mahindra, Microsoft, Mondelez, Nestle, Goldman Sachs, PwC, Uber, TAS
• FMCG/FMCD sector again dominated the placements with 47% students in the batch getting offers from 20 companies making it the largest recruiting sector.
• So, on back of a strong Autumn Placement this year, looks like Placements 2019 will also be a record placements at SPJIMR.
• Ever improving Final Placements at SPJIMR
• Every year, SPJIMR has managed to improve the Average Salary through the last decade. Aquick analysis of last three years data confirms this trend. Average package in Placement 2018 has increased to Rs 22.24 lakhs from Rs 20.90 lakhs. Number of companies participating has also increased substantially. The same trends can be observed whilecomparing placement data for 2017 and 2016.
• Last 3 Years Placement trends

Placement year
Average Salary (Rs.in Lakhs)
Number of Participating Companies
Median Salary (Rs.in Lakhs)

Placement 2018
22.24
114
21.35

Placement 2017
20.9
104
20.00

Placement 2016
19.3
89
--

Source: MBAUniverse.com Analysis
From this article, it will be clear to you that SPJIMR Placements are amongst the best in the country. You may be wondering about the academic rigor, and student life at SPJIMR. Next few articles will focus on these topics.
Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more Updates and USPs ofSPJIMR Mumbai.