The GMAC, the organization that makes the GMAT, has put out its annual alumni perspectives survey, this one on the class of 2012. These MBAs have now had time to get jobs and their survey responses give a snapshot of the state of the MBA job market. There is a lot of data to dig into, so we’ll cover it over the next series of blog posts, with some suggestions for how to view the results.
First up, and today’s topic, is where MBAs are working. The MBA class of 2012 is working in all the industries that are most familiar to MBAs, with an interesting twist. This graph compares the industries this year’s class is in with last year’s.
A change in the last year jumps right off the chart: the percentage of MBAs working in finance/accounting has dropped from 20% to 16%. Second, there is an even greater leap, this one upward, in the percentage of MBAs landing in technology, from 11% to 17%.
The shift from finance to technology (if we care to think of it that way) is in line with market trends. For a few years running, studies of varying levels of rigor have identified Google as a great place to work and a place that MBAs want to work—and, in the latter list, Google is directly followed by more technology companies: Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. (That list, coming from LinkedIn, may be technology-skewed; Universum’s is probably more accurate.) Meanwhile, the finance industry is still not considered what it once was, and consumer confidence still struggles, even with the Dow currently exceeding 2008 levels.
The first thing that a potential MBA should NOT conclude from this data is that he or she should throw away aspirations to work in finance and immediately divert them to technology. Finance remains and will remain a proven career path for MBAs. Moreover, the demand for MBAs overall is on the rise. More employer plan to hire MBAs in 2013 (76% of them) than did last year (69%; from GMAC’s 2012 Year-End Poll of Employers), and the demand for specialized masters in finance and accounting are also going up.
Also, we should NOT conclude that it’s easiest for an MBA to get a job in products and services these days, followed by consulting, and so forth. After all, the mere and sheer number of jobs in each industry does not account for the dynamics of supply and demand. In most all industries, about 80% of MBAs in the class of 2012 had landed a job within a month of graduation (health care / pharma stuck out as a negative case, just over 60%). What will drive job placement success for a candidate, usually, more than the industry itself, will be that individual’s combination of industry knowledge and accumulated experience and his or her MBA skills.
To continue listing false lessons from this data: we also shouldn’t think that we can take this information and make an ironclad plan out of it. The report reveals a shocking statistic: 31 percent of the class of 2012 was employed in an industry that differed from the industry they intended when they started business school. It’s commonly known that an MBA program, especially a full-time program, is a great stepping stone to switch careers. But this 31% of MBA changed careers from their intended career at the outset of business school. A bit more soul-searching and path-changing takes place during the program than most people expect. And this is part of why it’s important for business school applicants to admit for the possibility of change in their MBA plans that they put forth in their applications, although it’s important for them to put forward a clear plan. (For more admissions advice in that vein, see Kaplan GMAT’s MBA admissions free resource page.)
What’s most helpful from the chart above? I’d say: the questions that it can motivate MBA candidates to ask. When looking at a specific MBA program, for example, try comparing the chart above to the percentages for that specific program. Get a feel for where alumni of that program are landing, where they have been most successful, and how. That will be helpful for a particular prospective MBA to see how he or she will fit into a specific MBA program and succeed there and in the job search.
