45% MBAs, engineers from class of 2011 jobless

[ganeshbala]

45% MBAs, engineers from class of 2011 jobless

As per industry estimates nearly 9 lakh students passed out in 2011 as MBAs, engineers and MCAs from institutes approved by the All India Council for Technical Education. Of these, as many as 40-45% are still jobless.

Job consultants say of the 9 lakh, about 4.5 lakh students got placed. Of the remaining 4.5 lakh, a handful managed to find jobs through their own networks. "The remaining either didn't get any job or rejected jobs from lesser-known firms with modest salaries," said Kris Lakshmikanth, CEO and co-founder, HeadHunters India, a search firm in Bangalore.

Firms often scout for students from well-known institutes, leaving those from tier II, III and IV institutes to fend for themselves. Take Rushabh Pandya, 23, for example.

Pandya who passed out of an engineering institute from Bangalore rural in 2011 is still at home biting his nails. Only limited firms visited his campus and picked up the brightest 70. The average ones like him had to search on their own.

Experts say the moment the CV turns a year old, chances of getting a job dip significantly. "Once the 2012 batch is out, candidates from the previous year will find it even more difficult to get a job," said P Thiruvengadam, senior director at Deloitte India.