Amazon has hired 1,000+ newly minted M.B.A.s in the past year

Amazon’s recruiting tactics can seem like a microcosm of its larger business strategy to other firms vying for M.B.A. talent. The company’s recruiters descend en masse on campus and stay in touch with students constantly; for instance, eight or 10 alumni might attend large events or host coffee meetings for one-on-one conversations with students, compared with a typical one or two presenters from other companies, according to Abby Scott, assistant dean of Berkeley’s Haas school. “It’s been a huge volume play.”

The talent wars begin virtually as soon as classes begin and sometimes sooner. Amazon in June sponsored an event for 650 soon-to-be first-year and returning women M.B.A. students at its Seattle headquarters, some of whom left with internship offers for summer 2018.

Scott DeRue, dean of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, urges employers to hold off on recruiting until at least the end of the first week of classes.

“It’s nearly impossible. You say an academic building is off limits, and they’re at restaurants and coffee shops across the street,” said Mr. DeRue of avid recruiters like Amazon, which so far this year has hired around 40 Ross M.B.A.s.

At Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business, 25 to 30 people, or 10% to 15% of the graduating M.B.A. class on average, go to work for Jeff Bezos. The retailer fills the nine interview rooms in Tepper’s career center, and career-office staff turn over their personal offices for recruiters, too, said Steve Rakas, career-services administrator. Only PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP sends as many people, he added.

Though Amazon is popular, Keith Bevans, partner and global head of recruiting for Bain & Co., said the consulting firm continues to command its share of elite students, hiring roughly 500 M.B.A.s each year.