Armymen attend class at IIM Calcutta

The IIM tag is earning for army officers what it regularly earns for students straight out of college: big bucks.

Over 90 per cent of the officers who made up the first batch of the Directorate-General of Resettlement-sponsored business management certificate course for the armed forces at IIM Calcutta were placed before completing the six-month course.

And the average salary was about Rs 13 lakh-plus per annum. Some got offers of more than Rs 20 lakh per annum for senior management positions, including those of chief operating officer.

Over 20 companies from various sectors — from retail and marketing to construction, information technology to banking — recruited from the campus. The companies included the Sharaf Group, ITC, ICICI Bank, Cummins, Wipro and Apeejay Group.

“The officers have immense manpower management skills and are extremely target-driven, which makes them ideal for corporate positions. But we are surprised by the response from companies,” said Prafulla Agnihotri, the programme director.

The second batch of army men expects the companies to queue up when their course ends in September. For many of the participants, who are between 27 and 55 years old, the course is an opportunity to break out of a mould.

“There is a notion that former armymen are best suited to jobs in administration or security. But army officers are capable of much more,” said brigadier Atul Mishra, a part of the second batch.

The 55-year-old wants to put into practice in the corporate world what he has learnt during his 34 years in the army. “Management is what we have been doing all our lives though we did not have formal education in the field.”

Major Biju, a member of the first batch, felt that it helped him get acquainted with the “terminology and technicalities” of the corporate world.

The course earns big bucks even for those who opt to go back to the army. An officer with experience of five years in the army earns around Rs 4 lakh per annum (without considering perks). After completing the course, he or she can earn about Rs 12 lakh per annum.

“It’s hard to quantify the difference because there are perks. But there’s definitely a significant variance in the cash component,” said Major Biju.