Tuesday, January 26, 2010

ISB Placements and FT 12

It's been a while since I blogged. The ISB placement season is well and truly underway with companies coming in nearly every day. ISB this time had a weekend placement system for first 3 weekends and a whole week devoted to placements post term 7 (from Feb 12). However, some companies prefer to come on week days to avoid poaching by other companies. For students with multiple interviews, the companies all compete among each other to first interview and then make the student sign on its offer. Though we are allowed to get 2 offers before choosing one, many companies ask some students to sign out of the process by confirming their offer on the spot. Quite a lot of students have been placed after day 2 of placements. Moreover, the placements would stretch till 3 months after graduation (if need be) so people are optimistic.
On a personal note, I accepted an offer from the corporate strategy arm of one of the biggest MNCs in the world. So Im now out of the placement process. Feels wierd that the ISB experience is over so soon.

I've decided to major in Finance and Marketing by next term. To major, one needs to take at least 6 subjects in the area of concentration. There's a lot of opinions abound on whether majoring in a specific area makes any difference. Finance certainly is a strong signal about analytical skills and knowledge but it was a close call between strategy and marketing for me but in the end, I chose marketing because I believe that it has a more generic appeal and is a better signal. I had to trade off one very good paper - Economics of strategy for a marketing major but I guess you can't win ;em all.

Yesterday, FT rankings were announced and ISB has climbed again to # 12 in the list of the best B-schools in the world. We had a massive bash including lunch party in the afternoon and a DJ Nite with free booze/ snacks. Hope ISB's ascension continues and it is able to improve its brand image further internationally.