Only 14% of B Schoolers Want to Work in Startups and Prefer in Hand Salary over Bloated CTCs through Shares and Bonuses

• Only 14% want to work for a startup. Almost half (49%) of B School students prefer working with established (decade+) companies and large legacy firms.
• If students participated in competitions, the chances of bagging higher CTCs increased by 300%-500%
• Salary and benefits slips as the top priority giving way to Career progression and growth within the company for B School Students when considering a job.
• Work from home, flexible working hours, relocation or travel opportunities and training programmes are of the least importance in comparison to career progression and growth.
• Over 50% of B-Schoolers choose lower CTC & fixed components if the in-hand salary is high. In hand salary remains the most valuable salary component this year as well, followed by Fixed Salary and Total Salary.
• College alumni continue to influence the notion of students about the company.

Unstop, a career transformation platform, released its annual Campus Employer Branding Report (CEBR 2023), a one-of-a-kind report which sheds light on key factors that influence students’ job preferences.

Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder & Group CEO, PeopleStrong, Ankit Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Unstop and Anita Bhogle unveiled the report

The report was unveiled as a part of Unstop Campus Hiring Meet (UCHM) 2023, which was attended by over 600 industry experts, speakers, panellists and delegates.

Ankit Aggarwal, CEO and Founder, Unstop, said, “The report offers valuable insights into the factors that shape students’ job preferences, enabling companies to gain a better understanding of their mind-set and attract and retain top talent.”

He further added, “Our findings emphasize the importance of engagement strategies like competitions, placement talks, and informal alumni talks, as well as the need for start-ups to customize their engagement programs to attract talent. We also discovered that B-School graduates now prioritize career growth over salary, and that alumni engagement is vital for improving an employer’s brand.”

The report also shows that almost half (49%) of B-Schoolers prefer working with established & large firms, while only 14% want to work specifically for a startup, which is in line with last year’s poll. This is a clear indication that startups should tailor more synergistic and interactive engagement programs for students. They should step up their employer branding game because the more people will know about them and their culture, the more there will be chances of attracting the right talent.

CEBR 2023 also reveals that there has been a year-on-year change in the priorities of B-School graduates, with career growth now being considered more important than salary, compared to the previous year. Over 50% of the B-Schoolers surveyed chose lower CTC & Fixed Component if the In-Hand salary was high, underlining the importance of higher in-hand salaries to students.

Unstop CEBR 2023 reveals that participating in competitions can increase the chances of students bagging higher CTCs by 300%-500%, making it an essential engagement strategy for companies looking to attract top talent.

The importance of engaging with alumni in influencing students’ perception of a company cannot be overstated, and the CEBR 2023 report reinforces this fact. It is thus crucial for companies to connect with campus alumni and utilize their networks to enhance their employer brand. The report also highlights that the most effective company engagement model, according to students’ feedback, is a combination of competition, placement talks, and informal alumni talks. This has been the preferred trend for the last three years.

As part of the survey, students were also asked to rank their dream employer that they would like to work for, their most preferred tech company, and so on. The complete rankings of Unstop CEBR 2023 were also announced at Unstop Campus Hiring Meet (UCHM) 2023 on May 9^th. UCHM 2023 also touched upon ways to address and resolve systemic barriers to fair access to opportunities and devise ways to assess the skills and attitudes of the talent pool.

The event featured an impressive lineup of industry experts and leaders for panel discussions, including Anita Bhogle – Speaker, Author, Partner & Learning Content Head, Prosearch Consultants & Bizpunditz, Pankaj Bansal, Co Founder and Group CEO, PeopleStrong; Savitha Shivsankar, CHRO, Asian Paints; Gaurav Sharma, Chief People Officer, HCCB; Amit Prakash, CHRO, Marico Limited; Vishal Bansal, Head – India Talent Acquisition, Lenovo; and Dr. Rajesh U S, Assistant Director – University Recruiting leader, EY; among others.

Mehak Gupta, a student at IIIT Allahabad, who recently bagged a job at Flipkart through its competition for diversity hiring quoted, “I stumbled upon Unstop 2-3 months into my engineering degree, and it was a godsend. After just a single scan, I knew I had to sign up. If I had to describe Unstop in one word, I’d say it is a ‘Magic Box’ that keeps me updated about every opportunity. Just sitting in one city I could participate in competitions like ServiceNow and Flipkart Runway Season 3, which I won!”

Tailored specially for students, UCHM 2023 also hosted IGNITE 2023 focused on helping students grasp what to learn and how to learn, featuring seasoned leaders from Marico, AB InBev, Asian Paints, L’Oréal, Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance, and other renowned names.