More students from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business are securing jobs faster than in past years, even amid troubled economic times, the school reported last week. According to a report from Fuqua’s Career Management Center (CMC), 93 percent of full-time MBA students from the class of 2011 received job offers within three months of graduation, up 11 percent form 2010 and 14 percent from 2009.
Sheryl Dirks, association dean for career management at Fuqua, attributed the rising employment figures to collaboration across Fuqua between the CMC, student clubs, regional offices, alumni engagement teams and the MBA Association. “But far more than Fuqua’s efforts as an organization, these terrific results reflect the hard work by the students themselves,” she continued. “While we have an obligation to put in place the right resources, it is ultimately students’ efforts that dictate these numbers and this class excelled in that regard.”
From the class of 2011, 48 employers hired four or more Duke MBAs across a range of industries: financial services (12 companies), consulting (eight), health care (eight), technology (eight), consumer products (five), diversified products and services (four), retail (two) and entertainment (one). But not only are more students securing jobs, they are also snagging higher salaries. According to the CMC’s figures, the mean 2011 full-time annual salary is $107,833 (up six percent) with mean signing bonuses at $25,946 (up 18%). The incidence of signing bonuses also rose, from 71 percent for the 2010 class to 78 percent for the 2011 class.
The increase in offers to Fuqua students has been greatest within the consulting industry. Of the class of 2011, 30 percent accepted positions within consulting, a 10 percent jump from the prior year. As a result, several consulting companies rank among the top 10 Fuqua employers, including Deloitte, McKinsey, the Boston Consulting Group, Bain & Company and Accenture.
“The current economic conditions are clearly impacting this increase,” Dirks said in a statement. “At the same time, our community’s commitment to rethinking the business model for employment services played a role in the upward swing. We are delighted by the inroads we have made in consulting, while also maintaining strong performance in other industries.”
For more on the encouraging employment statistics coming out of Fuqua, click here.
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