mumbai

Updated: Jan 11, 2018 09:42 IST

It’s not just students from engineering and management institutes who are being offered fat salary packages.

At city colleges where campus placements are underway, undergraduates are being offered annual packages as high as Rs13 lakh.

Although the students will appear for their final semester examinations in April, placement officers at Vile Parle’s Narsee Monjee College and St Xavier’s College, Dhobi Talao, said they were busy handling offers.

Last year, the highest salary offered was Rs11 lakh.

Among the companies participating in campus placements are Proctor and Gamble, Ernst and Young, Deloitte, Axis Bank, JP Morgan and Nomura.

“Over the years, more students have opted for placements immediately after graduation, rather than seeking higher education. This is because several international universities give preference to students with work experience,” said Soni George, placement coordinator, St Xavier’s.

At St Xavier’s, around 370 students have registered for placements this year — mostly from the finance and economics stream.

“Students are clear about amassing work experience for two years before applying to universities abroad for post-graduation courses,” she added.

While finance companies have shown the maximum interest in hiring fresh graduates, media and consultancy firms have outnumbered them in terms of participation.

“With the changing job market, consultancy firms have an increasing presence during placements. Media firms also hire young talent for digital media and marketing,” George said.

However, opportunities are not the same for every faculty. At RA Podar College, Matunga, students pursuing majors in human resources and marketing are feeling let down, as finance seems to be getting preference.

“Companies are coming with set job profiles and students too are clear about their interest, so many turn down the offer if they feel the profile does not fit them,” said Simran Jain, student-coordinator of the placement cell of the institute.

Besides job offers, salaries too have risen this year. Most colleges have been seeing offers averaging between Rs3 lakh and Rs6 lakh per annum. Last year, the lowest offer was Rs2.5 lakh. A small number of students have opted to turn their passion into profession after graduation.

“The number of students wanting to launch start-ups is increasing, and it’s a welcome trend,” said Navin Punjabi, placement coordinator, HR College, Churchgate.

The number of companies visiting college campuses to hire students for internships has also seen an upward trend.

At Jai Hind College, Churchgate, 26 companies have registered for placements this year and another 57 firms have shown interest in hiring students for short-term internships.

“A lot of finance companies are showing interest in hiring students. Real estate firms are also testing waters and trying to find active and confident students for internships and full-time jobs,” said Haseena Sayed, placement coordinator of the institute.

So far, 35 students of the institute have bagged job offers through campus placement.

“Companies are insisting on prior work experience while hiring, so the number of students opting for internship is growing because it reflects well on their CV,” she added.