Traits Recruiters Value Most in MBA Hires
The set of questions to which Schoenfeld refers asks current recruiters to rank 10 attributes among MBA hires in order of their importance in terms of hiring decisions. “’Fit with company culture’ is one of their number one traits recruiters identify as important,” Schoenfeld notes. In fact, it was ranked first by companies in four out of the eight industries surveyed (consulting, finance/accounting, healthcare/pharmaceuticals and products and services). “Ability to make an impact,” meanwhile, topped the list for companies in the technology, manufacturing and nonprofit/government industries. Leadership potential and the ability to work in teams were also traits that companies across industries indicated as among the most important. Recruiters seemed less focused on executive presence, the ability to build external networks and the ability to work independently, the three lowest-ranked traits in the list.
“When you are graduating from a business school program, companies are expecting you to have a basic level of knowledge,” Schoenfeld says. “By better understanding these individual traits and which companies value them most, applicants can learn how to more effectively differentiate themselves in the hiring process,” he adds.
Mixed Outlook for International Students
“As always, this is a difficult area,” Shoenfeld says. “Especially in the United States and some other regions of the world, it is a little more difficult to place international students,” he says, given the requirement for additional legal documentation such as work permits or visas. Overall, 52 percent of companies report that they have plans to hire (24 percent) or would consider hiring (28 percent) recent business school graduates who require additional legal documentation.
Consulting companies were among the most like to hire such graduates, with 33 percent of companies saying they have specific plans to hire MBAs in 2016. Of tech firms, that number was 27 percent, closely followed by finance firms, at 26 percent. In the United States, 25 percent of employers reported specific plans to hire international MBA candidates, more than companies in either Asia-Pacific or Europe. On the downside, a full 51 percent of U.S. companies said they had no plans to hire such candidates.
Notably, almost a third (30 percent) of companies that plan to hire business school graduates in 2016 indicate that they will place these candidates in multiple world regions. This represents an opportunity for international students to find employment with multinational firms in their home countries, where they can add tremendous value and potentially relocate to other regions over time, Schoenfeld says.
Campus Visits, Social Media on the Rise Among Recruiters
“Nearly 9 in 10 employers that work with career services plan to conduct on-campus recruitment this year, giving students a tremendous advantage in finding job opportunities that are a great match for their talent and aspirations,” said Damian Zikakis, MBA Career Services Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA), president and director of career services at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, in a statement. GMAC conducts the Corporate Recruiters Survey together with partners EFMD and MBA CSEA.
Companies in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America all plan to increase on-campus recruiting in 2016, though projections for on-campus recruiting by U.S. companies remains strong but largely flat year over year, with 88 percent coming to campus last year and 89 percent projected to do so this year.
Companies also indicate plans to increase “off-campus recruiting,” which includes everything from reaching out to students via social media to posting on school job boards to conducting job fairs. In 2016, 82 percent of corporate recruiters worldwide plan to conduct one or more off-campus recruitment activities, up from 77 percent last year.
Another interesting survey finding was the predominant use of social media among corporate recruiters, notes Schoenfeld. Overall, more than half (54 percent) of employers make use of social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as part of their recruitment strategies. Companies in Europe lead the charge in this arena, with 79 percent of companies turning to social media for some part of their recruitment. Asia-Pacific follows, with 72 percent of companies, then Latin America (60 percent) and lastly the United States, where only 48 percent of companies employ social media as part of their outreach. LinkedIn was the most frequently used platform overall and within each world region, though companies that use social media as a recruitment tool rely on an average of 2.5 different outlets, the survey found.
Outlook Varies for Specialized Master’s Programs
The survey of corporate recruiters also tracks hiring projections for graduates of non-MBA master’s programs in management, accounting and finance. Here, the results varied by world region. In the Asia-Pacific region and Latin America, a greater share of companies plans to hire master of management and master of finance graduates this year as compared with last year. Companies in Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America also plan to hire more master of accounting graduates in 2016 than in 2015. In the United States, hiring projections increased slightly across all three degrees.
For the first time this year, GMAC also surveyed respondents about their intentions to hire candidates with other non-MBA master’s degrees, including specialized master’s in IT/systems, supply chain management, data analytics, marketing, human resources, economics, international business, risk management, real estate and hospitality. Globally, roughly a quarter or more of companies indicated plans to hire graduates with master’s degrees in supply chain management (27 percent), data analytics (26 percent) and marketing (24 percent).
Across industries, graduates of master’s of IT/systems programs were in greatest demand, although graduates of master’s-level data analytics programs were sought by 43 percent of companies in the technology sector, nearly twice as many companies as in other industries. Graduates from supply chain management programs were highly sought after by companies in the manufacturing, technology and products and services sectors.
Starting base salaries for graduates of specialized master’s degree programs were lower than for MBA graduates, with a median starting base salary of $85,000 for graduates of both master of data analytics and master of marketing programs, $75,000 for graduates of master of supply chain management and finance programs, $70,000 for graduates of master of management programs and $62,000 for grads of master of accounting programs. Notably, 67 percent of companies that plan to hire graduates with master of supply chain management degrees expect to increase their starting salaries either at the rate of inflation (46 percent) or above (20 percent).
Good News for Current Grads Bodes Well, Offers Insights for Current Applicants
“I think these strong findings are good news for the next MBA applicant pool,” Schoenfeld says. “Of course, forecasting the future is always fraught with difficulties because there are so many unknown variables, but understanding how companies recruit and what they are looking for in new employees really helps prospective students understand what they need to do to stand out in the hiring market,” he says.
Download the complete GMAC 2016 MBA Corporate Recruiters Survey Report here.
