GMAC Research’s 2017 Year-End Employer Poll had revealed that 83% of responding companies planned to hire new business school graduates this year. Similarly, the QS Jobs and Salary Trends report had forecast an 8% global growth in MBA recruitment.
The GMAC survey based on the responses of 93 employees, completed in November 2017, found that across all graduate management education program types, an increased share of employers planned to hire graduates in 2018 than in the previous year.
While 69% of the employers stated that they hired recent MBA graduates in 2017, 72% reported of plans to hire them in 2018.
About 1 in 3 employers (32%) said they hired recent Master in Management graduates in 2017 and 39% proposed to hire them in 2018.
In 2018, a larger number of companies were expected to hire more specialists than generalists (40%) than more generalists than specialists (28%). This represents a shift from 2017 when the balance was roughly equal, GMAC said.
Interestingly, in 2018, just 18% of employers have plans to hire international candidates, down from 27% in 2017.
Meanwhile, the QS report found that last year, there was a 10% increase in hiring in North America and the MBA salary levels went up by US$17,400 to US$116,300. The report was based on inputs from more than 3,400 employers worldwide.
Which industries will be providing the greatest number of opportunities this year? Marcel Kalis, Head of Career Services at ESMT Berlin, says Technology would be offering the largest number of jobs. He points out that tech and e-commerce companies like Amazon recruited 46% of the class of 2016 (the latest year for which data is available) and the trend continues.
Technology is also expanding from traditional areas to several other domains. Kallis says the recent growth of management consulting firms has mostly come from digital services such as data analytics.
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The digitalisation of lives in the form of the growth in online shopping, customer demand and the need for exchanging data was opening up career opportunities, he adds.
Uday Virmani, Director of Career Advancement Services at the Indian School of Business (ISB), agrees with Kali’s views. He points out that large-scale recruitments were taking place in the sector due to the churning in the technology industry.
“I’m here to have a dialogue and replicate a client talking to you about their business. It should feel natural and you shouldn’t be nervous about going into an area of business that you’re not familiar with or doing a bit of math. Your ability to engage will be important on the job,”
In the move towards automation, significant developments are happening in areas such as Fintech, artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, machine learning and cognitive analysis, he points out.
However, it’s Consultancy that remains a big draw with MBA graduates with high salaries and faster career progression. They could even hope to become a partner at Bain & Co within a decade.
Consulting is expected to recruit 14% more MBAs in 2018, making it the largest increase across sectors and 3% more in 2019.
Keith Bevans, head of MBA recruitment for Bain & Co, tells TopMBA that the company’s hiring targets will rise in proportion to the growth of business. Last year, the firm had recruited 35 MBAs from London Business School alone.
He also provides tips to fresh graduates on how to face the job interview. Bevan’s advice is to treat it more like a business discussion rather than as a quiz.
“I’m here to have a dialogue and replicate a client talking to you about their business. It should feel natural and you shouldn’t be nervous about going into an area of business that you’re not familiar with or doing a bit of math. Your ability to engage will be important on the job,” he says.
While salary levels are high in Consulting, Financial Services are the best paymasters, offering 6% more. This sector is also expected to a healthy growth of 7% in 2018.
At Stanford Graduate School of Business, finance firms had recruited 32% per cent of the MBA batch last year. On and average, the graduates got US$150,000 starting salaries, with a US$43,750 signing bonus and an expected US$120,000 performance bonus.
