Newly minted MBAs find it's a job-seeker's market
DALLAS -- With graduation about a month away, a number of Southern Methodist University MBA students still haven't lined up jobs.
It's not because of a bad economy -- it's because of a good one, says George Johnson, assistant dean of MBA career management at SMU's Cox School of Business. ''They are waiting for a better offer, keeping their options open," he says.
The job market for graduates with master's degrees in business administration is strengthening rapidly after several sluggish years, according to a survey of corporate recruiters by the Graduate Management Admission Council.
''Everything is definitely better than last year," says David Wilson, the council's president and chief executive. ''Bottom line is, every way you look at it, the boom is back on the MBA."
That news sits well with MBA students, including SMU's Thomas Mitchell.
Mitchell, like many other prospective graduates nationwide, hopes his MBA will give him that extra edge employers seek.
''The closer I get to graduation, the more attractive of a candidate I am," says Mitchell, 26, who is still entertaining job offers. He's looking at database marketing companies and is keen on landing a position as a marketing research analyst.
Other students such as Farah Ali, 28, have already found their postgraduate jobs.
When Ali departs Texas Christian University in May, she will join
''There are a lot of recruiters that come to campus, and there are always opportunities on your own," says Ali, who has worked for KPMG LLP. ''Sure, they say the economy's better, but you still have to find the best fit for you."
Corporate recruiters are increasingly optimistic about the economy, projecting more job openings for MBA graduates in 2006 than a year ago. About 63 percent of the Graduate Management Admission Council's survey respondents said the economy is ''not weak," compared with 45 percent in 2005 and 18 percent in 2004.
Companies are prepared to pay more this year, as well. The average starting MBA base salary for 2006 is $80,809, a 3.5 percent increase from 2005.
With more than 416,000 jobs added in January and February, this year's 1.4 million college graduates should enjoy the best entry-level job market since the dot-com collapse in 2001, according to an annual outlook released by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
''The market for grad students -- especially those with marketable skills in the private sector -- is great," says John A. Challenger, the consultancy's chief executive.
This year, employers are most interested in hiring MBAs to fill finance-related positions, the council's study found. Other popular employment sectors for new MBAs include consulting, general management, human resources, information technology, operations and logistics.
''It's more competitive than before among the companies for talent," says Shirley Rasberry, director of TCU's Neeley School of Business graduate career center in Fort Worth. ''Consulting and IT are coming back this year, I can tell you that."
''There are fewer MBA candidates out there than there were five years ago because companies are hiring more," says American Airlines Inc. spokesman Tim Wagner, whose company sent recruiters to 15 schools this year. He said the carrier is recruiting the same number of MBAs as in the recent past.
Many employers are looking for well-rounded MBA candidates.
A majority of survey respondents said MBAs receive sufficient training in such ''hard" skills as quantitative reasoning and analytical thinking, but many lack ''soft" skills such as leadership and interpersonal and communication abilities.
''The notion is that having the soft skills doesn't guarantee you the job, but not having them puts you at real risk of not even getting an offer," Wilson says.
Conversely, graduates should carefully evaluate prospective employers.
''Not only are you interviewing with them, you are interviewing them," says TCU student Ali. ''You can tell a lot about a company and its employees if you do your homework."
