CA: Now, about your team. How many career advisors do you have? Is this a relatively constant figure? If not, how has it changed in recent years? How might it change in the near future?
SK: Our department’s growth has reflected the growth over the past few years in the number of programs we offer. Today, our office totals close to 20, including the recruiting team and advisors.
CA: Can you provide prospective applicants with an overview of the recruitment process at Sloan? When does it start? How does it unfold?
SK: [laughs] It starts sooner than they like. During the first month of school, students are acclimating to campus life, their academics, what clubs they want to join and more. Presentations for first-year MBA students started on September 28th. Companies are on campus to talk about their organizations both at lunch time and in the evening. There are also many club events where companies talk about their industry in general.
This year’s on-campus recruiting for first-year students will begin on January 4th. At MIT Sloan, we have a Dedicated Interview Period, which is scheduled to coincide with students’ break between semesters. It always falls in the January to February timeframe.
This year’s on-campus recruiting for the second-year students will kick off on October 4th. Second-year students are typically more selective in their on-campus recruiting participation. Depending on their areas of interest, students rely on a variety of sources such as job postings, connections through clubs, or through class experiences across the institute. Different industries have different timetables, and it’s important that students understand how recruiting works in their industry of interest. For example, though large technology firms recruit on campus in the fall, they may not make an offer until the spring. Smaller firms from any industry are likely to do more just-in-time hiring, so students spend their time networking to ensure they are well prepared when such an opportunity comes through.
CA: How do you anticipate the current economy (including stock market volatility/concerns about China/instability in Greece) or other global forces impacting recruitment in the year ahead at Sloan? How important is it for you and your staff to remain flexible or adapt in order to help students navigate changing job markets?
SK: Right now we are not seeing any downturn in interest among companies wanting to recruit on campus. Let’s hope this doesn’t change. When we have weathered downturns in the past, it’s typically taken the form of additional outreach to alumni and companies. We also work with individual students to help them conduct their own additional outreach. For some employers, even during a downturn, it’s not that they are not hiring, it’s that they are hiring fewer students. Our goal is to ensure that we remain connected with them and that our students are on their radar.
The Class of 2014 had a 94.9 percent offer rate three months after graduation. We will have final Class of 2015 stats later in October. So far, the students have fared really well in the market.
CA: How does your team counsel students regarding the interview? Is there a formal mock interview process? How are interview schedules administered? Is there an established policy regarding how closed and open interviews should be conducted? What facilities are available for interviews?
SK: We offer a number of resources to help students prepare. All of our students complete something we call Career Core, which is a set of classes taught by faculty as well as friends and alumni of the school. We conduct a session on interviewing as part of Career Core, as well as a formal mock interview process. We remain available to any student who wants to do additional interview prep at any point during his or her time at MIT Sloan.
For first-year MBA students, if a company has more than one interview schedule for a specific job opportunity, we require at least 25 percent of one schedule be an open for bid schedule. For second-year MBA students, all of our schedules are closed.
In terms of our facilities, we use study rooms both in our new building and in our offices here in the Career Development Office.
