The Columbia Business School has released their employment report for the MBA Class of 2023. The total MBA Class of 2023 numbers 829 students, with 614 having started in August of 2021 and 215 having started in January of 2022. 125 students returned to a sponsoring employer while 23 started their own business. Another three graduates joined their family business. Three months after graduation, 84 percent of the 678 Columbia MBA students seeking employment reported receiving a job offer and 81 percent accepted a job offer. CBS adds that, by the end of 2023, these figures increased to 92 and 91 percent, respectively. Fifty-nine percent of job opportunities were school-facilitated, sourced through school-initiated internships, COIN job postings, and on-campus interviews.
Industry & Compensation
While financial services usually tops the list for CBS graduates, consulting recruited the most CBS MBAs this year at 36.3 percent. Financial services wasn’t that far behind, at 35.7 percent. A breakdown of this industry reveals that roughly 16 percent pursued investment banking, followed by nearly eight percent choosing investment management. Private equity and venture capital combined took in a total of 8.4 percent. The median salary for consulting, $190,000, exceeded the median salaries reported across financial services.
The tech industry hired nearly 11 percent of recent CBS grads. Real estate took in 3.3 percent of graduates and consumer goods rounded out the top five with 3.2 percent.
| Consulting | 36.3% |
| Financial Services | 35.7% |
| Technology | 10.8% |
| Real Estate | 3.3% |
| Consumer Goods | 3.2% |
The median base salary for the class overall landed at $175,000, which matches last year, while the salary range reached as high as $309,000. Nearly 72 percent reported receiving a hiring bonus, for which the median this year was $30,000. The school’s graduate survey made it a point to ask about job satisfaction. The top three reasons the MBA Class of 2023 gave for accepting an offer were firm culture and people (14.3%), company reputation (13.8%) and advancement opportunities (17.5%).
Location
While CBS does not traditionally offer location data, they have included a pie chart of global placement in this year’s employment report. Eighty-six percent of the Class of 2023 seeking employment stayed in the U.S. Five percent headed to Europe for work. Four percent settled in Asia while another two percent headed to Central and South America. One percent each found work in Canada or MENA.
