GMAT Score Use in Employment

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.).