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GMAC Reports Steady Value of MBA through “Great Recession”

Accepted.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:30:08 +0000

MBAs who earned their degrees during the first decade of the 21st century have fared quite well, despite the dot-com bust and the “Great Recession,” reports a Graduate Management News article.

The following data was gathered from GMAC’s semi-annual Alumni Perspectives Survey:

Of the 3,387 business graduates from the last decade who were surveyed, 96% were satisfied with their decision to pursue an MBA or other business degree.
94% of MBAs and other business degrees holders who graduated in the last decade are employed.
6% of those that are employed are self-employed. 53% of these business owners manage more than one employee, and 41% of those that are self-employed report at least $250,000 of total revenue per year.
Of the remaining 6% who are currently unemployed, 48% plan on starting their own businesses.
94% of alumni felt that their business degrees provided them with a competitive edge over non-business graduates.
89% claim that the value of their degree is “outstanding to good.”
More than half of 2000-2009 graduates report that they have “achieved, in part, their short-term and long-term career goals.”
Some of the educational factors valued most by this cohort include classmates, committed faculty members, and a relevant curriculum.
The median salary for the class of 2000 was $135,000. For the class of 2009, the median salary dropped to $82,000. The median salary for the 2000-2009 period is $94,829.

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Money Talks: A College and MBA Admissions News Round Up

Accepted.com — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 10:09:33 +0000

Here’s what’s going on in the world of college and MBA admissions…money-wise.

Many b-school students will be returning to class this fall without having had the rosy summer internship experience they had expected—that is, if they were lucky enough to land an internship at all. The main cause for disappointment: Fewer internships are turning into full-time job offers. “The number of offers at the end of the summer is shrinking, because companies don’t know their hiring needs, and so they’re very conservative,” says Kellogg assistant dean and director of career management, Roxanne Hori. The recent Businessweek article that covers this topic (”Salvaging an MBA Internship Gone Bad“) suggests that if you haven’t been offered a job by August, you shouldn’t despair—at least not yet. There are ways to persuade an internship employer to turn your summer stint into the real deal. Some tips from the article: Plan a mid-summer meeting with your employer. Discuss how you will contribute to the company long term. And if your employer still doesn’t bite, continue working hard until the end of the summer, and exit with dignity, making sure that you’re networking and job searching at the same time.

Another recent Businessweek article compares private and public university spending per student for teaching, concluding that private universities spend twice as much as public ones. In the academic year 2007-2008, private colleges lay out teaching costs, on average, of $19,520 per student, while their public counterparts spent $9,732 per student. Both rates are up significantly in the last ten years—private costs by 22% and public by 10%.

Yet another salary survey has been released by the Businessweek blog Getting In (”Salaries Strong for Recent Business Grads“). This one reports an increase in the number of jobs that corporate employers plan to offer undergraduate and graduate business grads, particularly to those coming out of summer internships. Looks like the author of our internship article (above) didn’t see this survey finding (conducted by Compensation Resources, Inc.): “This year, nearly 90 percent of corporate respondents plan to offer interns full-time jobs compared to only 60 percent in 2008.”

Tuck alumni show appreciation to the Dartmouth business school by hitting a world record in its alumni giving participation rate. 66.7% of Tuck alumni participated in the recent Tuck Annual Giving campaign, surpassing other top b-schools by a landslide. The Tuck alumni giving rate has been above 60% consistently for the last 25 years. No other top b-school has ever even come close to that rate—this year, the next highest participation rate was at 42% and the average of the other nine schools on the top ten list was at a mere 20%. (Source: July 2010 Tuck Tip Sheet)

Seeking more job optimism? The New York Times reports that hiring is on the rise, on Wall Street and elsewhere. A professor at Columbia calls the stock exchange “very resilient.” Everything has its ups and downs–look at hiring stats for companies like JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs, and you’ll see that the economy is about to experience an up. See the New York Times’ “Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery” for more details.

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Haas Reports Uptick in Class of 2010 Employment

Accepted.com — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 07:08:20 +0000

Here is yet another article to suggest that the job market is finally, and slowly, improving. A Haas School Newsroom report shares the results its graduating class’s job statistics.

Result highlights:

77% of the full-time graduating class received job offers. This is compared to last year’s 74%.
Students have accepted jobs at 80 companies in 13 countries.
Median base salary for this year is the same as last year at $110,000.
The most significant hiring industries for Haas MBA grads are the fields of technology (hired about 36%) and consulting (32%).
The energy sector, including alternative energy and infrastructure, increased in popularity this year.
A number of Haas graduates received job offers or summer internships at top companies including Apple, Google, and McKinsey.
95% of Haas Class of 2011 students received internship offers for this summer.
Summer internships are spread out over 135 companies in 15 countries.

In an initiative to work with the not-so-great job market, Berkeley-Haas career services department worked this year to track global hiring trends on top recruiting companies, and worked closely with Haas@Work, the school’s experiential learning program. Students are also bumping up their job search initiatives by taking networking more seriously.

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MBAs Want to Do Well…and Good

Accepted.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:03:29 +0000

While the market may not be at its best right now, there’s never been a better time to pursue the career of a do-gooder.

According to a Bloomberg Businessweek article, “MBA Grads Tackle Social Problems,” a “new breed” of b-school graduate is emerging. These optimistic, ideal-driven MBAs are striving to make a profit—they are, after all businesspeople—but not by taking advantage of people on Wall Street or even by pursing traditional careers in consulting, but by participating in nonprofit organizations and healing environmental and social ills.

In the short-run these MBAs may not make as much as their more traditional peers, but they believe that in the long-run doing good will pay off—financially, as well as environmentally and socially.

For these new MBAs, job satisfaction is extremely important. They aren’t just looking to make a buck, but are looking for jobs “that allow them to earn a living and help a cause that is deeply personal to them.”

To encourage MBA graduates to pursue their humanitarian dreams, some programs, including Yale SOM and Stanford GSB now offer loan forgiveness programs for their public/nonprofit-pursuing graduates.

Health education, education for low-income students, restoring houses for low-income families, training autistic employees, and recycling initiative programs are examples of nonprofit projects that new MBAs have launched, as mentioned in the BBW article.

It looks like MBAs are tired of being the recent targets of moral critique and are ready and eager to “do well by doing good.”

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College and MBA Admissions News Round Up

Accepted.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 12:05:39 +0000

1. A Chronicle article titled, “On Sticker Prices and ‘Wishful Thinking,’” reports that students and parents have hastily “ruled out colleges based solely on published sticker prices without considering how much financial aid they might receive.” According to a recent survey, these students and their parents did not use online financial aid calculators, nor did they investigate in other ways to see if they could make college more affordable through aid, loans, or grants. Survey findings show that in higher-income families, the parents were the ones who took advantage of the aid calculators; in the lower-income families, the students conducted financial aid searches. To prevent potential students from “dropping out” even before they walk through the college doors, the federal government next year will require colleges to provide “net-tuition calculators” to help families better determine how much they’ll likely pay, as opposed to accepting sticker prices as final. The Chronicle article also states that students are exceedingly optimistic (or rather, unrealistic) when it comes to their financial aid expectations. For example, 45% of students with SAT scores below 1000 believed that they would receive merit-based financial aid.

2. Here’s one way to attract prospective students to an international MBA program—fly them out for a weekend visit. Nyenrode Business Universiteit, a top b-school in the Netherlands, has just announced that it will offer free flights from anywhere in the world to ten prospective students for its “immersion weekend.” “We have invested heavily in shaping what we believe is now a world-class MBA programme and we are absolutely determined to attract the very best people to it,” says Desiree Van Gorp, the international MBA’s director. “The new programme is focused strongly on personal development and the enhancement of leadership skills and that’s exactly what participants can expect from the weekend of the 25th to 27th June, albeit in miniature.”

3. Bloomberg Businessweek has published yet another article about the b-school drive to expand their global footprints. This time, in “Top B-Schools Set Sights on India,” author Alison Damast discusses the moves American b-schools are taking to set up shop in India. These schools view the growing demand for high-quality management education in India as a clear invitation for them to make themselves at home, building new, state-of-the-art campuses in India. Such initiatives are contingent upon the passing by the Indian Parliament of a bill that will permit foreign schools to open their doors in India. If such a bill is passed, as is expected, then top U.S. business schools, including Duke Fuqua, will begin planning off-shore sites in India. The new Duke campus will offer EMBA degrees, one-year MAs in business, and other graduate programs.

4. While most people blame college grads’ inability to find a job on the economy, a recent NPR story blames it on the grads themselves. That’s why ill-prepared college seniors are getting a bit more attention these days in the areas of job readiness, communication skills, and life in the “real world.” David Polk, a York College professor who’s developing a new curriculum in “professionalism,” says, “There’s a sense of entitlement that we’ve picked up on, where people think they’re entitled to become, let’s say, president of the company within the next two years; they’re entitled to five weeks of vacation.”

Related Accepted Resources:

Navigate the MBA Maze, a free nine-day email course.
Financing Your Future: Winning Fellowships, Scholarships and Awards for Grad School, an instantly downloadable ebook.
“More Students Head to Mom and Pop For Jobs,” a blog post.

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B-School Class of 2010 More Confident, Job-Wise, than Class of 2009, Despite Fewer Jobs

Accepted.com — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:49:58 +0000

According to the Global Management Education Graduate Survey, graduate optimism is particularly impressive, especially since only 40% of full-time MBA students had job offers prior to graduation this year, down from last year’s 50%. For part-time students, the percent of pre-graduation job offers was at 22%, as compared to 38% in 2009. For EMBA graduates, less than 25% had secured jobs before graduation, a large drop from 2009’s 44%.

Despite these significant drops in job offers, the recent GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey show that this year’s graduating class expressed much more confidence in the economy. In 2009, only 9% of MBA graduates felt that the global economy was strong, or at least stable, while 2010 findings show that 33% exude such confidence.

According to the survey, this optimism is due to the fact “that employers are shifting away from an emphasis on cost-cutting and retrenchment, devoting more attention to expanding their businesses—and growing increasingly likely to hire business school graduates.”

David Wilson, GMAC president and CEO, says, “While the job market may be cyclical, the value of management education is constant.”

The press release also lists other major findings from the Graduate Management Education Graduate Survey, including:

The most popular industries among the Class of 2010 are finance and accounting
The second most popular industries are products/services and consulting
The highest success rate was found among students entering the manufacturing sector.
The second most successful industries are healthcare and energy/utilities.
Most than half of graduates expect to work in a different field upon graduation than before starting their MBA programs.

The survey also compared job offers and salaries by citizenship. See the chart on the GMAC press release for more information.

Meanwhile, over at Bloomberg Businessweek, a related article (”The MBA Job Picture Brightens“), indicates that while optimism may be on the rise, that positive attitude is only prevalent at top-tier schools. Recruiting opportunities at MIT Sloan, for example, picked up 40% this year, back to 2007 recruiting standards. Harvard Business School and Chicago Booth, the latter of which reported that 80% of its graduates had landed full-time jobs upon graduation, also experienced upticks in recruiting and in job offers.

But the fact that the top ten business schools are experiencing a rush of job landing success doesn’t help the rest of the MBA world. The job outlook for grads at most MBA programs is still bleak.

The BW article points out one more thing: While MBAs at top schools may be having an easier time finding jobs this year than last, the salaries at those jobs are not up to par with those of 2007. According to Chris Branin, a recent UVA Darden graduate, “It’s much easier to find a $50,000 a year analyst position somewhere than it is to find those jobs that come with an $80,000, $90,000, or $100,000 salary. My feeling is that it’s not really hard to find a job. I think what is difficult now is to find the jobs MBAs are expecting to see when they graduate.”

Also, obvious as it may be, the article reviews how graduates from top tier MBA programs not only have an easier time finding jobs, but finding jobs with higher salaries.

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Words of Wisdom to Graduating MBAs

Accepted.com — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:28:33 +0000

Celebration and cheer are in the air as b-school students flip their tassels, get their long awaited diplomas, reflect on their past two years, and contemplate what the future holds. According to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek article, “Goodbye B-School, Hello World,” expectations are high for the class of 2010.

Graduation speakers are choosing their words wisely to leave new MBAs with a feeling of triumph and opportunity—rather hard to come by sentiments given the economic crisis of the last two years—without neglecting the sometimes harsh reality of a recovering economy.

The following quotes come from keynote speakers’ speeches or their notes for forthcoming speeches:

“There will absolutely be setbacks and rejection, and this is the best time of one’s life to grapple with these challenges….[Graduates] are young, optimistic, full of drive. A time of unprecedented economic crisis is the perfect opportunity to develop and use their unique, fresh perspectives and skill sets.” (Ken Denman, chief executive of Openwave, speaker at University of Washington Foster School of Business)

“I am a committed capitalist, not the Fairy Godfather.” (Todd Stitzer, former CEO of Cadbury, speaker at Columbia Business School)

“If you believe in what you’re saying, if you believe in what you’re doing, you’ll be more effective, more passionate, and more authentic in everything you do.” (Seth Goldman, co-founder of Honest Tea, speaker at the American University Kogod School of Business)

“Have an interest that takes you totally away from the business world, whether it’s skiing, windsurfing, hiking, meditation, opera, or some worthwhile nonprofit….You have to step outside your daily environment, not only to replenish your spirit, but so you can strategically review where you are, where you are going, and what you should do next.” (Richard C. Blum, chairman of Blum Capital Partners, speaker at UC Berkeley Haas)

“Entrepreneurs objectify their idea into a company that is in fact the generating machine of jobs in America….[I]t is business, not government, that creates all wealth.” (Carl J. Schramm, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, speaker at Pepperdine University Graziadio School of Business and Management)

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MBA Admissions News Round Up: Innovation All Around

Accepted.com — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 10:27:15 +0000

A recent Wharton alum and former user of Accepted.com resources, recently sent me information about an interesting blog he’s working on. Check out Mate, I C Bill’s new blog that tracks his “extended recruiting efforts.”

Harvard Business School, Yale SOM, Northwestern Kellogg, Chicago Booth, and Michigan Ross are all either in the midst of searching for or have just hired new deans. B-schools around the country are trying to revamp their programs, ramp up fundraising, and freshen the face of leadership in an effort to restore “the tarnished reputations of business schools,” states an article in the Wall Street Journal, “B-Schools Try Makeover.” We’ve discussed the MBA makeover quite a bit in this blog; see the following articles for more information: “The MBA Oath: Where Business and Ethics Meet…Maybe,” “B-Schools Implement Reform Long in the Making,” “Haas’ New Image: ‘Developing Innovative Leaders,’” “Chicago’s Ted Snyder To Become Dean of Yale SOM in 2011,” “Kellogg Names NYU Stern’s Sally Blount New Dean,” “HBS News: Dean Light to Retire,” and “Ross Sad to See Dolan Go.”

A related article (”Changing Course” in The Economist) also highlights changes b-schools have made to heighten ethical awareness, modernize and make more relevant curricula, and to churn out good people, as well as good businessmen. HBS’s MBA Oath has taken a front seat in this discussion, as well as Berkeley Haas‘ curriculum reform. Haas’ Dean Lyons says, “This feels like exactly the time for a business school to take values seriously—not just post them on the wall, but to really go for it.” Lyons explains that the MBA Oath, while a good idea, needs to be transformed from a b-school conversation into an integral part of universal culture. Enforcing the important role of strong, innovative leaders is also at the forefront of Dean Lyon’s evolving strategy.

Related Accepted.com MBA Resources:

B-School Zones
Submit a Stellar Application: 42 Terrific Tips, an instantly downloadable ebook
Navigate the MBA Maze, a free email course

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MBAs Make it Big in Vegas, Behind-the-Scenes

Accepted.com — Sun, 30 May 2010 18:27:13 +0000

Harrah’s, and other big Las Vegas casinos, are recruiting new MBAs to work behind-the-scenes to improve their businesses, reports a Bloomberg Businessweek article entitled “Viva Las Vegas: MBAs Catch the Gaming Bug.” With extensive knowledge and experience in marketing, refinancing, human resources, and management, these fresh-out-of-school MBA grads fit the casino job specs perfectly.

B-schools, and not just the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), are started to offer courses and clubs that focus on career development in the gaming/casino industry.

Harry Chernoff, a NYU Stern professor who teaches the course, Operations Entertainment: Las Vegas, explains that as the financial job market dries up, MBA students need to broaden their job-prospect horizons.

Many of the people who work in the gaming industry don’t have business degrees; until recently, it was not required or a common occurrence. Now, not only does having an MBA greatly increase a job applicant’s competitive edge, but people who are already in the industry are returning to school to get higher business degrees in the hopes of job advancement.

An MS in hospitality, especially when combined with an MBA, has also become a valuable asset in the casino job market; since most casinos are housed in hotels the two fields have become intertwined to the point of inseparability. (For example, frequent gamblers or “high-rollers” are often “comped” free rooms.)

B-schools (NYU Stern, Chicago Booth, and UNLV in particular) are making the “job trek” to Las Vegas (and to Los Angeles) to explore non-traditional ways to put their MBAs and MSes to good use. The entertainment/gaming industry is “screaming for management leadership,” says Chris Roberts, director of the School of Hospitality Leadership at DePaul University, and MBA and MS grads are the ideal candidates for the job.

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B-Schools News: More Expensive Programs Yield Higher Paid Grads

Accepted.com — Thu, 27 May 2010 07:14:22 +0000

According to new Bloomberg Businessweek research, graduates from top business schools (which are also the most expensive programs) earn more straight out of school and down the road than do grads from lower ranked, less expensive schools. And they don’t just make a little more…but a lot.

Robert Dammon, CMU Tepper associate dean and professor, explains the price-wage connection: “The kinds of students that the best schools attract are going to get the highest-paying jobs.”

Paul R. Dorf, managing director of the consulting firm, Compensation Resources, adds, “The cream-of-the-crop companies hire the cream-of-the-crop grads.”

Top-ranked b-schools generally offer the most expensive programs and generally churn out the highest paid graduates. Harvard Business School, for example, has the most expensive MBA program, and the best paid alumni.

PayScale, a salary-comparison company, recently evaluated salary data of 23,000 MBA graduates from Bloomberg Businessweek’s top 45 American business schools.

Their data shows that on average, MBAs from top programs make $2.5 million (base-pay plus bonuses) over the course of 20 years in a single industry. HBS alumni make closer to $4 million, while alumni from lower ranked programs (but still in the top 45) like Iowa Tippie, make less than half of that.

Another interesting comparison between the higher ranked and lower ranked programs was the growth of salary over the two-decade period. Graduates from Yale SOM, for example, were awarded with extremely high starting salaries, but then experienced only small increases over the following 20 years. Grads from University of Connecticut’s business school, on the other hand, received lower starting salaries that more than doubled over that same 20-year period.

Below are the top median salaries earned after less than 2 years out of b-school and then the estimated career total for a 20-year long career:

BBW Rank	B-School	Median Pay, Less than 2 Years	Estimated Career Total
2	Harvard Business School	$133,000	$3,867,903
4	Wharton	137,000	$3,491,371
7	Columbia Business School	119,000	$3,349,669
6	Stanford GSB	123,000	3,327, 145
12	Dartmouth Tuck	124,000	3,146,031
3	Northwestern Kellogg	117,000	3,085,680
9	MIT Sloan	121,000	3,031,132
1	Chicago Booth	111,000	2,970,437
10	UC Berkeley Haas	110,000	2,960,527
13	NYU Stern	106,000	2,918,748

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