MBA Jobs
The MBA degree opens up worlds of opportunity for its bearers. Many business positions require an MBA for advancement. For example, investment banking and management consulting firms hire large classes of newly minted MBAs each year at six-figure salaries into the “associate” level – those without MBAs generally don’t advance past the “analyst” level. At major consumer products companies like Procter & Gamble, Kraft and Colgate-Palmolive, MBAs are hired as “assistant brand managers” into the brand management department – those without MBAs are generally not eligible for the department. And it is from this function that these companies’ senior executives are generally drawn. In other industries such as media and entertainment and the federal government, while the MBA isn’t necessary for advancement, it is increasingly becoming a major asset.
Many M.B.A.s were netting multiple job offers, six figure salaries, and an embarrassment of riches in their packages of bonuses and perks. The days of such instant gratification are long gone. Deciding whether to invest $100,000 or more to earn the degree today requires much more careful thought and planning. Average MBA salary crossed $150,000 in top business schools. University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school students got $165,859 as median salary. Stanford University GSB students are getting $167,225.
Rather than dwell on the dismal nature of the M.B.A. job market, we focus on how some students not only survived it, but succeeded in reaching what they thought would be an impossible dream changing careers. You'll learn how they did it through a combination of pluck and plain old hard work.
Business school deans and career services directors are keen to learn about their weak spots and to listen to recruiters' advice for improving the school's reputation. And recruiters themselves, facing constant competition for the cream of the M.B.A. class, also find the ranking useful in identifying schools to add to their list of "talent suppliers." They are likely to find surprises in the list of "hidden gems" schools that aren't typically ranked in the top tier but sparkle for some recruiters.