Placement data of MBA colleges is the most sought after as it gives you a realistic picture whether your rigorous study translates to a job at the end two years. It will also tell you whether you get good returns on the hefty fees you paid and the time spent on cracking a tough entrance exam and two years on the campus.

However, this also is a somewhat grey area as some of the MBA colleges employ below the belt tactics to snare gullible students to their campus. Some of the unscrupulous MBA colleges give huge advertisement s on the highest salary package for a student or give only selective information of the students placed to inflate the median or average salary data. So, you must know how to understand placement data before arriving at any decision.

A placement report must include the following points:

• Average, median, and lowest salary offered to candidates

• Industry wise information of the recruiters like BFSI, Finance, Telecom, Automotive etc.

• Top recruiting profiles like sales and marketing; finance, consulting etc.

• Top recruiters, that is, names of companies visiting the campus for placement

• Profile of the passing out batch

• Percentage and number of students placed

Of all the above, the first and last points are of paramount importance across sectors.

The average or median salary is the best one to understand the quality of placements at an MBA college . It is not the highest package which matters because it may be for an exceptionally well rounded candidate or an international placement converted into Indian currency. Similarly, an MBA college with a lot of international placement s may have a higher average salary.  However, it also shows that the students of that particular MBA college get good placements abroad. So, read the fine print carefully and also find out the domestic placements and pay packages and the standing of the recruiters in the particular industry.

Percentage and number of students of a class placed is also important. Otherwise, skewed statistics can mislead you into believing that the MBA college has a higher average salary even though only a fraction of the students have been placed. You should also remember that some of the students may opt out of placements for further studies or to join family businesses of start their own enterprises.

Ranking of MBA colleges is also a good indicator of their standing in the industry and how well the students are placed there.

Ranking by reputed agencies like the NIRF  (https://www.nirfindia.org/Home) and Careers360 take into consideration an MBA college’s teaching and learning resources; research, publications and patents; graduation outcomes; scholarships, diversity of the class etc.

The Careers360 (www.careers360.com) ranking follows a patented Input, Process, Output methodology and does not give any weightage for perception, which gives an accurate picture of the MBA college.

You can check out the NIRF ranking or log on to https://www.careers360.com/compare-colleges to choose between MBA colleges.

In Kolkata, IIM Calcutta has the highest median salary of Rs. 23.7 lakh. This is followed by IIT Kharagpur at Rs. 19.6 lakh. These two public institutions that have a long standing reputation also have 100 percent placements. International Management Institute has a median salary of Rs.7.51 lakh with 95 percent placements.

Here are the best B-Schools in Kolkata based on placement

NIRF Rank in brackets