KOLKATA: Forget the US recession and fears of an IT slowdown, engineering students across the country seem to be on a roll.

Around 71 per cent students across campuses lapped up offers with annual salaries of Rs 3-5 lakh in FY08, marking a 9.4 per cent year-on-year increase in campus salary as compared to a 7.6 per cent increase in FY07 from FY06.

Also, MNCs pay 43 per cent higher salaries than their Indian counterparts, according to a Campus Compensation and Student Perception Survey 2008 covering 59 companies and 2,200-plus students from over 120 engineering campuses.

While the CareerNet survey, conducted by the Bangalore-based recruitment consulting company, provides campus salary and recruitment process trends across various domains and sectors, the student perception survey presents the perspectives from the students and campuses’ end.

Out of 2,200-plus students questioned, 56 per cent feel job satisfaction and recognition are the most influencing factors to stay beyond one year in an organisation.

For 45 per cent, ‘Integrity and hard work’ is the single most important trait for success as compared to 40 per cent for whom, ‘Smart work and networking’ is the success mantra.

“These are very important revelations for corporate to work upon and further strengthen the work culture and value system within the organisations, resulting in positive influence at the workplace and in curtailing attrition too,” said CareerNet Consulting CEO Rishi Das.

The campus compensation survey also came out with other key findings including the fact that there has been a 17.6 per cent jump in entry level salary in FY08 from FY06 across domains. According to the survey, 17 per cent of the students bagged a salary above Rs 5 lakh in FY08.

For 57 per cent students, job profile is the deciding factor in accepting the offer on campus followed by company brand for 21 per cent of the students and 10 per cent who accept based on compensation alone.

Bangalore continues to be the preferred destination for jobs followed by Delhi/NCR. Chennai is fast catching up as the third most preferred destination.

The study also revealed that fixed cash is the most important part of compensation for 65 per cent of the students. Product companies continue to be the preferred career option for 39 per cent of the students of which only 22 per cent achieve it.