Move over Google, Oracle; start-ups pick up most IIT grads this time

It seems neither money nor big brands are the priorities of IITians and other engineering college graduates.

According to a report in TheTimes of India, a new pecking order appears to have emerged at engineering colleges with several new start-ups finding way into the top of the placements queue.

Besides Housing.com, ahouse-hunting portal thathired 45 IIT graduates during top slots at campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, Kharagpur and Guwahati, other start-ups such asonline restaurant discovery guide Zomato, Quickr,multi-screen gaming platform Snapstick,Myntra and job site Naukri have also joined the race to hire from IIT-B.

[caption id="attachment_1117113" align="alignright" width="380"] AFP[/caption]

Dozens of other, lesser-known start-ups including Unbxd, Wooqer, Edudigm, ZeMoSo Labs are also making a significant number of hires, getting the better of many established companies in the war for talent, reports TheEconomic Times.

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"Never have so many start-ups made it to the first few slots, "Avijit Chatterjee, placement head at IIT-Bombay, told ToI.

Meanwhile, with 118 offers so far to the class of 2014,Flipkart has emerged as the largest recruiter in the first three-and-half days of this placement season. The company picked up the most number of students--36--at IIT Kanpur.

So, why are more IITians chhosing startups over big names? Well, the companies are not only paying a salary of at least 12-18 lakh (gross), but are also offering some interesting profiles.

Sachin Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart makes it clear."Those who join us get the opportunity to build a company and its business from the ground up, grow along with it and learn at a pace and flexibility that is unmatched in the industry. "

And that's precisely what most graduates are looking for.