What do MBA employers search for?

More than 1,200 recruiters from 90 leading MBA employers used the Global Focus advanced search capabilities last year to find their perfect candidates. These recruiters are proactively sourcing their next generation of leaders by filtering the database of over 70,000 candidates to their exact specifications, including: function, industry, work authorization, experience, language, diversity, and keywords.

During the past recruiting season, employers selected more than 600,000 profile attributes in over 35,000 advanced searches. The most important profile question was geographic preference -- which was selected in searches nearly 100,000 times. Specific MBA schools was a close second. Followed by specific industry and function experiences. Other graduate degrees and certifications/licenses were the least important attributes.

This is a summary of the most searched-for candidate profile attributes:

1. Geographic Preference  -  98,337
2. MBA School  -  93,059
3. Industry - Experience  -  82,650
4. Function - Experience  -  62,126
5. Function - Preference  -  45,048
6. Industry - Preference  -  41,228
7. Class Year  -  39,295
8. Language Ability  -  34,771
9. Geographic - Work Experience  -  15,245
10. Program  -  12,419
11. Total Years of Work Experience  -  11,683
12. Club Affiliations  -  11,065
13. MBA Concentration  -  4,695
14. Graduation Availability Date  -  4,434
15. Years of Post MBA Work Experience  -  2,624
16. Annual Compensation  -  2,213
17. Undergraduate Major  -  953
18. Function Experience - Internship  -  578
19. Industry Experience - Internship  -  281
20. Other Graduate Degrees  -  118
21. Certifications/Licenses  -  115

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Top 10 profile attributes MBA employers look for

More than 1,200 recruiters used the Global Focus MBA recruitment technology last year to search and source the perfect candidates for their hiring needs. Within that technology, these recruiters performed more than 35,000 advanced searches by selecting more than 600,000 profile attributes to define their perfect candidate. These were the top ten most selected profile attributes:

1. Class Year  =  Graduating MBAs  -  16,392
2. Class Year  =  MBA Interns  -  13,979
3. Work Authorization  =  United States  -  12,537
4. Program  =  Full-time MBA  -  9,214
5. Class Year  =  Experienced MBAs  -  8,689
6. Language Ability  =  Basic/Conversant  -  6,443
7. Total Years of Work Experience  =  5 - 10 Years  -  5,154
8. Function - Experience  =  Brand / Product Management  -  4,578
9. Function - Experience  =  Corporate Finance  -  4,339
10. Function - Experience  =  Analyst / Research  -  3,885

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The recruitment model is changing

Even with job boards, online networking, and social media recruiting— employers say they are still missing too many high-potential candidates.

Consider this: Recruiters may literally look at thousands of resumes from thousands of sources while searching for that ideal candidate. The main problem with this data is that it is not standardized; recruiters have to search to find the information they need.

The Global Focus database helps recruiters find exactly what they need by providing a common format for every student enrolled.

All an employer needs to do is choose their desired criteria, whether it be involvement in clubs and activities, geographic preferences, or demonstrated leadership and/or work experience. Search results are returned instantly from the thousands of candidates in the database. Those candidates that most closely match what the employer wants rise to the top of the list, making it easy for the employer to find the most qualified candidates for the job.

Let’s imagine that a large financial corporation needs to hire ten candidates for a finance position.

The example above shows how a recruiter might search the Global Focus database to quickly identify quality candidates. Without Global Focus it would be very difficult to gather, review, and interview the number of high quality candidates needed to make ten formal offers of employment. With Global Focus, recruiters simply search the database and then directly connect with their ideal candidates.

What is recruitment?

Recruitment is the process of finding, screening, and selecting qualified candidates for a job at a company or organization. Recruitment begins the moment a job becomes available and ends when an offer of employment is accepted by a job seeker. In between, the recruitment team (or person) may perform any or all of the following tasks: creating a job description, advertising the job, sourcing, screening, interviewing, performing background checks (including references, credit checks, and degree verification), making a job offer, negotiating (terms of employment, relocation, salary), and orienting candidates to the workplace (“onboarding”).

How does recruitment work?
As you can no doubt tell, the process of recruitment involves a lot of legwork for recruiters. Probably the toughest task for any recruiter is finding qualified candidates, which is very time-consuming. Some of the tools recruiters use to find candidates include:

• Sourcing. Instead of passively waiting for job-seekers to come to them via job posts, recruiters actively search for candidates who fit the bill for the job they need to fill. Recruiters “source” by gathering specific information such as a candidate’s name and contact information. Sometimes, they also glean information about the candidate’s skills and experience in a particular field. Recruiters find this kind of information from online searches (e.g., job portals, forums, alumni or other group listings, blogs, and networking websites), by calling a company directly to find out information about its employees, or by asking for employee referrals. Unfortunately, this research is often done one candidate at a time, resulting in a time-intensive and manual process.
• On-campus recruiting is also important in today’s recruiting environment. Many companies host a variety of events on campuses across the country, such as corporate presentations, workshops, and interview sessions. Some firms arrange company site visits for a select group of invitees, while other companies set up mentor programs or networking events. Global Focus “U” and your school's career services office is a great way to stay on top of these events and receive notice of on-campus activities.
• Job postings. Employers advertise (or “post”) jobs in print and online—using trade journals, web sites, and online job boards to post their vacant positions. Job search websites have job search functions, and also allow users to post a resume to attract potential employers. Some online job boards specialize in a particular industry, location, or other criteria. Many firms also post jobs on their own company websites. The main limitation of job postings is that there may be hundreds or even thousands of candidates apply for a position. This means a lot of competition for the candidate. For the recruiter, it means a lot of time spent sorting and sifting through piles of unqualified applicants to identify the truly qualified ones.

MBA Resume Books Available Now: Boston, Florida, Syracuse, Tuck and more

Eight new MBA resume books have released over the past week. Each Resume Book is an extensive database of profiles and resumes submitted by top MBA talent at one of our member schools. Select a school below and search this resume database by experience, certification, keywords, and more.

Available Now:

• Boston College: Class of 2012
• Carnegie Mellon - Tepper: Class of 2012
• Dartmouth - Tuck: Class of 2013
• Emory - Goizueta: Class of 2013
• Florida - Hough: Class of 2012
• Syracuse: Class of 2012
• USC - Marshall: Class of 2013
• Washington - Foster: Class of 2012

Coming Soon:

• IMD: Class of 2011 - Available: 9/16/2011
• Georgetown - McDonough: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/19/2011
• MIT - Sloan: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/19/2011
• South Carolina - Moore: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/20/2011
• South Carolina - Moore: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/20/2011
• Iowa - Tippie: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/21/2011
• Iowa - Tippie: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/21/2011
• Boston College - Carroll: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/23/2011
• Minnesota - Carlson: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/23/2011

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MBA Resume Books Available Now: Cornell, Duke, Wharton and more

Six new MBA resume books have released over the past week. Each Resume Book is an extensive database of profiles and resumes submitted by top MBA talent at one of our member schools. Select a school below and search this resume database by experience, certification, keywords, and more.

Available Now:

• Cornell - Johnson: Class of 2012
• Duke - Fuqua: Class of 2012
• Georgia - Terry: Class of 2012
• Indiana - Kelley: Class of 2012
• Univ of Penn - Wharton: Class of 2012
• NYU - Stern: Class of 2012

Coming Soon:

• Boston College: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/8/2011
• Carnegie Mellon - Tepper: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/8/2011
• Dartmouth - Tuck: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/9/2011
• Florida - Hough: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/9/2011
• Rochester - Simon: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/9/2011
• Emory - Goizueta: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/12/2011
• Syracuse: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/12/2011
• Denver - Daniels: Classes of 2012 & 2013 - Available: 9/12/2011
• Illinois: Classes of 2012 & 2013 - Available: 9/12/2011
• Minnesota - Carlson: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/12/2011
• USC - Marshall: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/14/2011
• Case Western Reserve - Weatherhead: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/15/2011
• Case Western Reserve - Weatherhead: Class of 2013 - Available: 9/15/2011
• Washington - Foster: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/15/2011
• Temple - Fox: Class of 2012 - Available: 9/16/2011