GMAT Use in Employment

I am occasionally surprised by the number of people who tell me "the GMAT is meaningless once you are admitted into an MBA program." This statement is simply false. In the field of finance it is quite common for firms to ask for your GMAT scores. Investment Banks are probably the best known example but other financial services firms do it as well. Other industries that emphasize analytical skills expect high GMAT scores as well.

It is important to note that many of the ultra elites have some form of grade nondisclosure. Accordingly, the last information that these firms have about your academic ability- your college grades and GMAT score -become more important.

Another factor to keep in mind is that despite its many flaws, the GMAT is the only common experience shared across (virtually) all GMAT applicants. Thus, it makes some sense for firms to be interested in how you performed on the only shared evaluation with students from other schools. There has been some talk of an MBA Exit Examination that students from many schools would take each year but this idea has never gotten very far for obvious reasons (some schools would lose face, some schools would teach to the test, etc.).

Some related links:

BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/co ... _bs052.htm

Vanderbilt:
http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbi ... arkets.cfm

Hjort:
I agree with you on the importance of GMAT score.
I was browsing through the web site of McKinsey sometime back and in Carrers section, one of the required fields is --> GMAT Score, School graduated.
So. there is some consideration for GMAT score, inspite of your Graduate school and experience.

Aryan.

I thought I'd try some monster.com searches for the word GMAT...

Yes I agree. I know for a fact that McKinsey asks for GMAT (or LSAT or other test scores). I don't know if they are absolutely necessary for employment, but I do know that they ask for it.

I'm also quite certain that business schools are aware of their customers (the companies that hire their graduates), and that it is important for them to keep the scores of their admitted students high because they will be more competitive in the job market.

In fact, I will paraphrase from the University of Chicago message board, a message from a GSB student to an applicant with a low GMAT score: It would be wise to try to improve your score because even if you are able to get in, your lower GMAT score will continue to haunt you as you look for a job.

So even for a top top school like Chicago, employment may be more challenging for students that do not have top GMAT scores.

Ryhme, do you know which employer requested a GMAT score of 770 or higher? That seems like an unbelievably high bar.

thank you for the info

What if you took GMAT more than 5 years ago and your perfect 800 score is no longer effective? Do you have to take it again for employment purpose?

In my current job, I did not need to take the test again.
I am convinced that one of the reasons I got a job in my current capacity is that I got a 700+ on my test and my current employer (a very well respected firm) explicitly asked for all test scores (even back to ACT). I hear this is becoming much more common. I am so thankful that I studied extra hard for my GMAT as I knew that I could get into the school I wanted to with a 650, but the 700+ score has made all the difference later on. Very important to do well on the GMAT and use it for resumes etc.