Director Corporate Relations – European BSchool, India CampusAcademic Search
In today’s time, when the success of any Business School is primarily measured by the pay package offered during the campus placement, Corporate Engagement is a crucial department to gauge the success of any management school.
In any reputed Business School, quality faculty pool is important to enhance its academic profile. However, a formidable Corporate Engagement head, to ensure good campus placements year on year, is equally important.
The Institution
A globally renowned institution, which ranks among the top 10 business colleges in the world had a position vacant at its Indian campus. This management school translated its strong international outlook into the foundation of its first offshore presence in India. Established in 2012 in Mumbai, this institution was launched in response to the growing competitive challenges on the global stage. This business management school, is one of the few selected business schools worldwide to have received, for its MBA program, all three of the prestigious international accreditations—AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), and AMBA (Association of MBAs).
Search Objective
To deliver at par with its mother institute and enhance its campus hiring initiatives. This institution wanted to give its students a platform, which was similar to any of the top ranking business schools internationally. To lead this initiative they were fervently looking for a candidate who had both industry experience and the gravitas to build engaged relationship and pull large corporates and MNCs to the India campus single handedly.
The Challenge
With 7,000-plus MBA students graduating from India’s leading business schools, this year’s placement season saw a tepid response after immediate aftermath of demonetization. Companies were cautious on the hiring front; salary packages across campuses saw an average 5-10% increase and the mood, in general, was more subdued than in the preceding few years. In the wake of such hiring trends, this institute was looking for a Corporate Engagement Head that could bring the most reputed companies and the best of offers to its students.
However, given the market scenario, and the niche role specification, it was difficult to convince, any candidate, with a proven record of accomplishment, working with well established top ranked Indian institutions; to take up this profile on a new campus of globally top ranked institutions. Most of the candidates were skeptical about the sustainability of the globally ranked institution in India. To add to the challenge, the position was based out of Mumbai, a city already infamous for its high cost of living and other complications that a cosmopolitan brings with it. Owing to this candidates expected exorbitant salaries for taking up this profile. Since these were still the initial years of this particular B-School, there were constraints on resources there were being invested in the corporate relations function.
Search Strategy
EduShine prepared a list of the most credible Corporate Relations professionals in India. Corporate relations, is one of the most critical yet under-celebrated department at any B-school. Solely responsible for bringing all the recruiters on the campus, this role demanded someone who had the right network and an enterprising personality. We shortlisted the candidates who were experienced and could single handedly bring top corporates to the campus. Further, we identified 2 sets of candidates from the selection pool. The first list comprised of candidates with really low salaries, who would therefore consider the profile. Candidates in the second list were profiles with strong background, who were looking for the challenge that the job offered more than compensation.
The Outcome
After various rounds of discussion, Edushine finally found the right fit for the role in this candidate. Being an alumni of ISB Hyderabad himself, he has been leading their Corporate Relations function since 2009. Having been solely responsible for managing north and west India placements, he has been responsible for more than 60% students’ placement from both the ISB campuses – Hyderabad and Mohali.Being from strong background, this candidate was not merely interested in this profile for higher monetary perks.
Having managed placements for such a reputed institution at large scale, this candidate had just the right set of skills that the client institution sought. After being associated with ISB for almost 10 years, he sought newer set of challenges in a role that could provide him unprecedented global exposure.
Edushine was successful in providing the most suitable candidate for the client and based on 3 months of engagement with the candidate as Director – Corporate Engagement, the client approached EduShine for another senior level search assignment.