“The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector has once again emerged as the industry of choice for this session management graduates, with 44 per cent students graduating in 2010 voted it as their most-preferred industry,” the Nielsen Campus Track–B School Survey revealed.

Over 60 per cent students are considering to apply in these two companies for jobs, while 64.2 per cent management students are considering to send job applications in Hindustan Unilever, 60.9 per cent wished to apply for Proctor & Gamble.
“The security which FMCG sector provides forms a major attraction for the graduating batch. However, the affects of economic downturn can still be seen as three out of every four students feel that recession is going to affect their final placements,” said The Nielsen Company’s Associate Director Client Solutions Shaveta Bhardwaj.

The Nielsen Survey interviewed 1,362 soon-to-be graduates from India’s top 40 management institutes in a bid to gauge their perception of companies as they evaluate prospective employers.

After FMCG, 28 per cent students rated entertainment and media as the other most promising sector, while 26 per cent favoured management consulting.
Twenty-three per cent viewed retailing and telecom as a preferred choice to work in, while oil & energy sector has 22 per cent interested youngsters. “The average salary expectation of students from their ‘dream company’ has notched up a few decimals to Rs 14.6 lakh this year. Salary expectations from a foreign company is almost twice than that from an Indian company,” the company said. Students cited factors such as good job prospects, high degree of independence, good marketing stand, salary package and job content as decision drivers, while choosing a company.

The survey also revealed that Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata remained the role model for management students due to graduate in 2010.