trader1 wrote:
Has anyone thought that the MBA "market" may be peaking right now? This is quite an uneasy feeling considering the state of the financial system and ongoing cuts, hiring freezes, etc. going on across not only investment banking firms, but other multi-national corporations.
Could this year's and the following couple year's graduates be in for a dwindling job market?
These thoughts are constantly in the back of my mind, as I am applying to MBA programs beginning in Fall 2008. What could be worse than going into debt tens of thousands of dollars and walking out of a top MBA program with no job?
Does anyone know how it was for MBA grads following the dot com bust?
My interviewer from GSB graduated in or '01 I believe. He said the market was very bad then, especially for the banking industry (post 9/11). From what he said it was only really tough on career changers. Former bankers got the jobs over people that had no experience but wanted to switch into it...He got a job like 3 or 4 months after graduated (engineer to IM).
I think if you are staying in a field similar to what you are doing it wont be a problem. However, if you are going from IT to IB and companies aren't recruiting as heavily then its going to be harder because you are going against a lot of folks who have prior IB experience. Also going to a top 5 or even top 10 school vs a top 20 also will make a difference if it really gets bad.. I know in the bad years when companies lowered the number of new hires, the hits came from a lot of the schools they dont recruit as much from. They want to keep their standing with their core schools, so they cut back at their lesser schools. A lot of companies rely on their relationships with a handful of schools to get the majority of their MBA hires, so these are bonds they really want to maintain. I have not heard of any companies not showing up this year at the big schools.
It really is more based on industry though, our economy could be doing crappy but if you are doing internation business your job market might be amazing. I am not worried about it, even if I cant find a job in my desired industry, there are going to be tons of job opportunities for someone with a general management MBA from a top 5 school. If I wanted to go into banking I still wouldnt worry. I would just make sure to keep my options open because my background has no finance in it so getting a banking job could be tough in a down economy.
You just have to be prepared to do a lot more leg work, networking, and to take a job that is not your first choice.