In the current economic scenario, expertise in a specific sector is highly valued. MBA aspirants have the liberty to choose from a wide range of specializations. In order for you to make an informed choice, a list of the popular areas of specialization is given below:
MBA (Marketing) – A popular field of specialization, Marketing looks into the aspects of understanding market situations, competitors, and portfolios of product offerings. Two related fields are Sales Management and Brand Management.
An emerging market equity research by J P Morgan Stanley reveals that the urban population of India and China will grow by half a billion by the year 2025. With more disposable income in hand, the spending power of the urban population will increase. In this scenario, marketing plays a very important role in placement of brands in the market and product consumption. Currently, the average industry pay package is INR 11.5 Lacs.
Students with marketing major are generally recruited by top FMCG players. The 08 Final Placement at IIMC saw many graduates being hired by heavyweight marketing brands like Procter & Gamble, Nokia, Hindustan lever, ITC, Nestle, and Asian Paints. IIFT graduates were offered marketing and sales positions by companies like Reckitt Benckiser, Colgate Palmolive, Britannia, and Cadbury. With new product offerings from companies like Dabur and P&G, the future looks bright for Marketing specialists.
MBA (Finance) – Finance is by far the most sought after specialization the world over. The focus is obviously in the finance sector and its related fields, such as investment management, investment banking, hedge funds and private equity. The average industry pay package (domestic) is INR 13 Lacs.
Career options are diverse and can include:
- Asset Management
- Corporate Finance
- Corporate Banking
- Credit Risk Management
- Derivatives Structuring
- Hedge Fund Management
- Private Equity
- Treasury
The recent global slowdown has not stopped big finance companies from recruiting and paying big money to IIM-A gradates of the class of 2008. One IIM-A student got an international annual salary of INR 1.44 crore from the finance marketing sector. The list of top recruiters includes:
- Goldman Sachs
- Lehman Brothers
- Morgan Stanley
- Merill Lynch
- Bain & Co
- Boston Consulting Group
- Deutsche Bank
- McKinsey
Indian finance companies like ICICI, Kotak, SEBI, and Yes Bank also recruited from IIM Kozhikode.
