Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Do internships affect MBAs' career paths?

Half-way through the graduate business schooling process most MBA students participate in an internship. By this time, many MBAs know what they want to do and where they want to work, but the MBA internship is the final confirmation -- for most! For some MBAs, the summer internship can be an enlightening experience that ultimately changes their career path.

Take the current 2nd-year class of MBA students preparing to graduate this summer for example. The majority of them spent last summer in an internship in the investment banking / brokerage industry:
  1. Investment Banking / Brokerage 6.26%
  2. Strategy 5.24%
  3. Investment Management 4.89%
  4. Internet Services / E-Commerce 4.86%
  5. Private Equity 4.48%
  6. Software 2.83%
  7. Beverages / Food 2.71%
  8. Management 2.51%
  9. Hedge Funds 2.49%
  10. Retail 2.44%
After completing their summer internships, however, the same class of 2012 MBA students now prefers a career in...

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Friday, January 13, 2012

MBA hiring is up across the board

Good news for MBAs and those currently attending a top-ranked graduate business school: MBA hiring is up across the board.

* yes, job "board" pun intended.


In general, MBA Focus saw a 65% increase in MBA jobs over the past year (2011 vs 2010). This increase is based on the number of MBA-required and MBA-preferred jobs on the graduate business school job boards powered by MBA Focus' Global Talent System. This includes schools like Columbia, Cornell's Johnson School, Harvard Business School, MIT – Sloan, Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UC Berkeley – Haas, Chicago's Booth School of Business and more.

But MBA hiring has prospered in some industries more than others, including a 440% increase in agribusiness and multiple technology industries with more than a 10% increase.

Here is the complete breakdown:
  1. Agribusiness 440.00%
  2. Engineering Services 172.73%
  3. Manufacturing 171.43%
  4. Financial - Insurance 139.53%
  5. Nonprofits & Social Enterprises 107.14%