Others like French financial giant BNP Paribas, Dutch heavyweight ABN Amro, and Citibank are not far behind in picking up finance grads. Investment banking giants like Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital are also important players. Ajit Rangnekar, deputy dean of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, says that most of the recruits have been for the financial analysts’ posts. “The next challenge for India will be to cater to the financial associates’ position”.
These global financial players are not only recruiting Indians in hordes, they are also offering the best compensation. For instance, the cost to company (CTC) in case of a Standard Chartered recruit placed in India would be around Rs 7.5 lakh a year. StanChart has so far recruited 30 graduates for positions in India. “The graduate associate (GA) programme is a global programme where career tracking is done at a global level. The GA programme involves extensive overseas exposure in a structured manner,” a StanChart spokesperson said in reply to an FE query. In fact, the first overseas visit for the entire batch could be within six months of joining, the spokesperson said.
BNP Paribas, on the other hand, recruited six first-year MBA candidates from IIM-Bangalore (summer placements) and two candidates from IIM-Calcutta on Day Zero — the very first day of the final placements — for overseas destinations like London, New York and Tokyo. This is the first time the French giant is hiring from India for its global fixed income desk. “We have the best of talent,” ABN Amro’s head-HR for India Raj Katra puts in simply. His bank has taken two for its Dubai operation. ABN Amro global operation is also likely to come to India for recruitment.
Pradhan of XLRI says: “Mathematical skills and knowledge of English always puts Indians at an advantage. Now, with outsourcing in banking sector gaining momentum, it is only normal that these financial institutions have turned their attention to India”.
