As jobs increase, students of science and commerce are being offered salaries on par with packages for MBAs and those with specialised PG degrees in media or design u00a0 <table style="width: 125px; height: 42px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="125" align="right" border="1"> <tbody> <tr> <td><img alt="" src="/imagedata/2011/feb/studds.jpg" border="0" /></td></tr> <tr> <td> Hiring spree: Companies are making a beeline for science and commerce colleges. Representation pic</td></tr></tbody></table>At the Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce (BMCC), Principal C N Rawal proudly waves an offer letter from a multinational finance and accounting firm that is offering a starting package of Rs 4.5 lakh per annum to some of his students. What has pleased him most is that these students are undergraduate commerce students who have been offered these salaries on the basis of their academic record and not fancy degrees. Enquiries with colleges across the city showed that the phenomenon has emerged as a campus placement trend across colleges this year. Not only are there more jobs for basic graduates, but also higher-than-before starting salaries that are comparable to the packages offered to post-graduate students specialising in management, media, design or other faculties. Dr Shamkant Deshmukh, vice principal and placement in-charge of Modern College in Shivaji Nagar, said that salaries offered to undergraduates were up by 60 per cent to 80 per cent this year when compared to the previous twou00a0 years. "Earlier, the lowest package offered would be around Rs 1.75 lakh to a computer science graduate, but this year we have had minimum salaries that are around Rs 2.4 lakh, which shows that the industry is interested in hiring graduates," he said. "We have even had companies offering up to Rs 3.75 lakh as the starting package to a trainee." Dr Charudatta Nimkar, associate professor at the computer science department and in-charge of placements at Wadia College, said that the average starting salary of a science graduate this year was Rs 2.8 to Rs 3 lakh. When these salaries are compared to the average salaries of post-graduates in media or design, or even management students, the difference is not much. For example, at the Pune Institute of Business Management, the average starting salary offered to a management student this year is Rs 3.5 lakh. "The highest we had was Rs 7.8 lakh offered to a student, but the average is lower," said Raman Preet, chairman of PIBM. "Having said that, I think this year there are many jobs in the industry and the hiring process is looking up." Madhuri Sathe, executive director of the Indira Group of Institutes, said that the average starting salary ranged between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6 lakh for MBAs. Manish Santosh, member of the board of governors at the AIMS Institute of Management Studies in Bavdhan, said offers of around Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4 lakh were being received by students who had a dual specialisation of post-graduate and masters in management studies. The situation at ISB&amp;M is slightly better for MBA students, who are being offered an average of Rs 5.5 lakh at the entry level, but post-graduate media and design students are being offered around Rs 3 lakh on an average, said executive director Ujjwal Kumar Chowdhury. He attributed the fact that the chasm of the past between basic graduation degrees and super-specialisation degrees was no more prominently seen in terms of packages offered in the hiring process to the optimism felt by companies. "The hiring is always based on expectations for the coming year, and since last year was a stable market and we are out of the slowdown, companies are hiring in a big way. Not only are they giving out more jobs but maybe higher salaries to basic graduates as they expect more business to get generated," said Chowdhury. "Yet there is always a difference in salary. And there would also be a correction in the next couple of years; these graduates will feel the need for specialisations and come to take admissions in management or other institutes."

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As jobs increase, students of science and commerce are being offered salaries on par with packages for MBAs and those with specialised PG degrees in media or design

Science, commerce grads give MBAs a run for their money

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