IIM graduates are being lapped up with hefty pay packets even before the official placement week begins.

Lateral offers for IIM graduates are coming to a close, as institutes are now geared for final placements. Lateral offers are only for students with prior work experience of 10 months or more.

This year, IIM graduates had more to choose from than the traditional consulting and banking offers.Real estate companies such as Unitech, Rahejas, DLF and the Lodha Group participated in IIM's lateral placements for the first time. 20 positions were on offer at IIM Calcutta.Pay scales are also on the rise.IIM Ahmedabad has recorded an average salary of Rs 18 lakh  per annum so far.Highest salary at IIM Calcutta is Rs 22 lakh a year.Of course, this amount will go up with the investment banks still to come on campus next week.

With new sectors opening up, it is not surprising that even retail and real estate companies are now coming on campus to hire.Both students and recruiters now have a more diverse pool of offers to choose from. That's because while typically IIM students came with work experience in the IT sector, that reality is fast changing

In the current IIM Ahmedabad batch, 38% students has work experience in the IT sector and 25% comes from other backgrounds. That's a sharp increase from just 10% 3 years ago. Number of companies coming for lateral placements is fast increasing too. IIM-Calcutta has seen a 48% jump in offers. IIM-Bangalore has always had more fresh graduates than other IIMs. But this year the institute has been offered 75 lateral positions. Clearly, IIMs are selecting more students with work experience more than ever before.