Scope in Investment Banking

No more mr banker?

 

B-SCHOOLS in India have started experiencing the aftershocks of the tumultuous crisis that hit two of the biggest investment banks in the world — Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch. There have been serious apprehensions about the decrease in the number of job offers during the time of placements at the various Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), as the financial service sector in general and investment banking in particular have been the top recruiters till now. But, the reverberations of the crisis are not just limited to the decrease in the number of job offers in IIMs. Students, faculty and professionals are predicting some new trends in the job market scenario specifically pertaining to B-schools. 

   “This is the first time international financial markets have undergone so much change after the financial services sector especially investment banks became top recruiters in IIMs. There is serious apprehension about the number of jobs offered by investment banks. We had seen the mood in fact during our final placements for the last batch, as there was decrease in the number of jobs offered by investment bankers,” said a second year student at IIMKozhikode. “Now people will opt for jobs in consultancy, private equity and venture capital marketing. Investment banking will only attract those who are genuinely interested in entering this sector as till now there have been students who came with the objective of fetching a job in investment banking without even knowing what it means,” he added. 

   Supporting his view that not many people will opt for investment banks, a senior investment banker from UK, said, “It is time when people would like to take off from bank jobs and many will be cautious while entering investment banking. But, we still have to wait and see the changes that will take place in terms of the courses offered in B-schools.” 

   According to Devashish Dhall, pursuing an MBA in banking and insurance from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi, “The positive side of this crisis is that it will further boost students to go for specialised MBA and higher qualifications. However, competition will also be higher as more people will fight for a lesser number of jobs.” Further analysing the changes in the demand for B-school graduates, an IIMLucknow graduate and DGM in a power sector company said, “The immediate effects are visible now when many people working in Indian branches of investment banks have been asked to leave their jobs with just a few days notice. But, this will further have an effect on the demand for B-school graduates. Those who have lost their jobs but are experienced will fetch jobs in other companies and fresh graduates might have to bear the brunt as there will be lesser demand for them.” 

   Vanita Tripathi Misra, lecturer, department of commerce, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University (DU) on her part feels that there should not be a state of unrest among students, as this crisis will not affect the Indian scenario in a big way. “India is moving towards bearish markets but they are not that volatile. Apart from the banks that were associated with investment banks, it won’t affect the financial service sector. But, one major trend that will emerge is students opting for other sectors that they were ignoring. My students have become a little cautious about a job in the financial service sector. They are ready to settle for a lesser salary in sectors that are stable like manufacturing.” 

   Apart from the change in attitude of students towards job, Tanuja Agarwal, associate professor, human resource management and organisation behaviour at the Faculty of Management Studies, DU, predicts a new role for HR. “The sudden job loss creates anxiety among people and the HR of an organisation will have to play a new role in managing this anxiety and uncertainty among their employees.”

 

 

 

   Sunil Sharma

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