MBA Jobs: Capstone projects, case competitions become key placement tools amid hiring slowdown

Gauri Nair, a first-year student at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Tiruchirappalli, was still finding her feet at the premier B-school when she first heard about ‘case competitions’ or ‘case study competitions’ – where participants are asked to find solutions to business-related problems, either real or imaginary. Intrigued, she began competing in them with different groups of her batchmates. They turned out to be fun, and a unique learning experience.

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Nair ended up winning one of the contests, Destination Dr Reddy’s 2.0, organised by multinational Dr Reddy's Laboratories. What made the victory sweeter was the prize – a pre-placement interview (PPI) for an internship with the firm. While she ultimately picked another organisation for internship, two of her teammates were offered a chance to work with the pharmaceutical company. She, however, found the journey – gathering information, testing strategies, taking quizzes and behavioural tests and partaking in industry mentorship sessions – as rewarding as the result.

Pratyush Pathak, a recent graduate from SP Jain Global School, which has campuses in Mumbai, Dubai, Sydney and Singapore, got an opportunity to work on a ‘capstone project’ – a semester-long assignment where students work with a company on an actual business problem. In this case, the company was United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Danube Group, and the task was to understand the consumer shopping behaviour and to position the brand as a ‘home experience brand’.

Pathak and his classmates did a deep dive into existing literature to identify behavioural and cultural trends, conducted interviews and surveys, developed hypotheses and validated them through statistical analysis. The insights gathered through this process were extracted into actionable business strategies, which were then presented to the company’s senior management. Impressed, the organisation offered him an internship opportunity.

MBA Jobs: Capstone projects, case competitions

As B-schools around the country face an unprecedented slump in campus hirings amid global economic slowdown and uncertainty brought by the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven automation, graduates are increasingly looking at alternatives to the usual placements track to employment.

While avenues like case competitions, capstone courses and live projects, which allow students to more extensively demonstrate their managerial acumen and skills to potential employers, have been around for some time, their popularity is soaring by the day. With recruiters now seeking specific skills among job applicants more than institute-affiliation, these activities have emerged as an important entry point in the workforce.

Capstones are now a mandatory component of curriculum at some of the institutes, where until now summer internship was the only means for budding managers to get industry exposure. The results, according to B-schools, have been promising.

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According to Abhishek Kumar Totawar, placement chairperson at IIM Tiruchirappalli, there has been a significant increase in the number of case study competitions in recent years. “A decade ago, there were only a handful of case competitions like the Mahindra War Room,” he said.

Either organised by B-schools themselves or business houses, the basic format of case competitions remains the same. However, some of the events are more exclusive, and hence coveted, than others. In fact, the abundance of case competitions available to their students can become a key feature for institutes. “One of my friends joined IIM Tiruchirappalli as it has more competitions compared to another institute she was considering,” said Nair.

At KJ Somaiya Institute of Management Studies (KJSIM) in Mumbai, it’s the capstones that are proving to be the distinguishing factor in hiring. The institute introduced them as part of the academics two years ago. As soon as a student enters the campus in the first year, they are encouraged to take up one of the capstone projects alongside their regular courses.

The institute has formed a dedicated team to collaborate with corporate houses and bring these projects – typically in the form of business problems which the firms want to address but may not have been able to due to time and other constraints.

Unlike summer internships, where students work full time for a couple of months with an organisation, the capstones are more stretched out and flexible. Students have regular interactions with their assigned corporate and faculty mentors. The institute ensures that a wide range of work areas are available to learners according to their interest and specialisation – credit risk modelling, portfolio optimisation and fintech in finance sector; sentiment analysis and digital strategy designing for marketing trainees; predictive demand analysis under operations stream; and productivity analysis and skill-gap mapping for future human resources (HR) professionals.

At some places capstones are now part of undergraduate programmes too. Bengaluru’s Vidyashilp University, this year added capstone project as a compulsory 12-credit component to its Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) Honours curriculum. Students are placed in business organisations and work on projects assigned by them for 15 to 18 weeks in the final semester of the course. They must submit a detailed report at the end of the project outlining their work, methodology, and the value it creates for the host organisation. The evaluation includes a viva-voce examination, where students present their findings before a panel of teachers and industry representatives.

The Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Research and Entrepreneurship Education (SIMSREE), another top Mumbai B-school too, has witnessed an uptick in live industry projects landing on campus.

“Earlier, our students would only work on case studies, but we are now getting live industry projects as well, thanks to our alumni. Some of these projects are brought by students themselves. We get assignments from micro, small and medium and enterprises (MSMEs), and even naval dockyards. The duration of these projects can be one or two months,” said Shriniwas Dhure, director of the institute.

Capstone, Live Projects: Mutually beneficial

The institutes say that the student participation in case studies, capstones and live projects has been mutually beneficial to both the management students as well as recruiters.

“Students are assigned projects and case studies based on real-world problems, giving them practical exposure to emerging trends within their domains. Through these projects, they gain insights into organisational structure, work culture, and the skills required to excel in their professions.” said Umesh Mahtani, professor, programme chair BMS (Hons) at Vidyashilp University.

Panjabi, too, credits KJSIM’s focus on capstones for half the current final-year batch getting placed by October this year. “The jobs will no longer be given to people simply because they are from a specific B-school. The skill-based hiring, where the student’s readiness for specific job roles is assessed, is the trend and this is where capstones play a role. They ensure that students are ready on day one,” he said.

Dhure echoed these sentiments. “The live projects are definitely helpful in learning as one gets direct exposure from industry. They hone the students’ analytical capabilities and decision-making skills. Those who do live projects always get better placements, both in terms of better roles and packages. Around 10% of the students get offers from the same companies for which they worked,” he said.

MBA Jobs: Traditional hiring still key

IIM Tiruchirappalli, on the other hand, believes that industry-connect avenues are more than mere recruiting tools. “The questions posed in case study competitions are not hypothetical ones – they are drawn from real-world scenarios. Some of the recruiters who visit our campus are looking at case studies competitions as means of selecting candidates. It gives them a broader testing ground for a more in-depth analysis. Having said that, we don't view them in transactional terms; they are learning opportunities more than earning opportunities,” said Totawar.

And while the industry project route of employment is gaining traction, it is yet to replace the conventional on and off campus hiring process.

“The industry-project placement track is stronger than many conventional hiring routes because it lets students prove skills in a real brief rather than only talking about them on a resume. That said, it’s not universally superior for every role. Traditional hiring processes still play a role for highly technical jobs where certifications or domain-specific experience are required. But for marketing, insights, and brand roles — where demonstration of analytical thinking and applied strategy matters — the industry-project track is significantly more effective and authentic,” said Pathak.