The Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) has been conducting a Year-End Poll of Employers since 2009 and recently released its 2011 results. This year’s poll indicates that the job market for MBAs is looking up in 2012. The 2011 poll responses included 229 employers representing 216 companies, and here is what it discovered:
- 74% of Employers plan on hiring MBAs in 2012, up from 58% last year.
- 32% of companies plan on increasing compensation for MBA hires this coming year.
- 69% of employers are planning on offering internships to MBA students in 2012.
While these stats certainly represent the major news from this survey, there were additional noteworthy elements specifically:
- Increased planned hiring of Masters in Management (51% in 2012 from 36% in 2011) and specialized business master’s graduates (59% in 2012 from 38% in 2011). For recruiters it still appears that the MBA is the preferred degree, but the MiM and specialized degrees are seeing increased demand. For you college seniors who want to pursue careers in business, it makes the most sense to apply to MiM programs while also applying for jobs. If you get a good job, go for the job and then later you can obtain an MBA. If you don’t get a good job, then go for the MiM. This recommendation assumes financial ability to pay for the MiM, and a cost-benefit analysis that makes sense.
- Page 9 of the report presents recruiters’ thoughts on international candidates. If you are interested in working outside your home country, I would review the comments. They are of a qualitative nature so they don’t fit neatly into survey data, but they do highlight steps you can take to achieve your global goals.
Also a few caveats about this report.
- This is a relatively small pool of employers. A much larger group responds to GMAC’s major survey, conducted in February.
- While there are fantastic potential employers on the list of companies that completed the survey, including IBM, Bain, Intel, A.T. Kearney, Deloitte, and Dell , other heavy hitters — Google, McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, Amazon — did not participate.
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Read the full article: GMAC Predicts Sunny Forecasts for this Year’s Hiring Season
