Lisa Feldman, who took over as executive director of the MBA Career Management Group at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Management in October, had good news to report as she shared the latest employment figures for Haas graduates earlier this week.
For starters, all 11 rooms dedicated for on-campus interviews are solidly booked for the first few weeks of spring, when top investment banks, consulting firms and other employers will come to campus. According to Feldman, it’s an indicator that could forecast another strong year for hiring for Haas grads despite high unemployment in the overall economy. Of the class of 2011, 91 percent accepted job offers within three months of graduation.
“2011 was a good year for MBA hiring,” Feldman says. “We know there is suffering on the overall employment landscape, but our MBA graduates are finding success in their job searches.”
The class went to work for an average annual salary of $114,232 in 2011, up from $107,451 in 2010. The median salary was $111,000, and signing bonuses averaged $22,344.
McKinsey & Company was the top employer for last year’s graduates, hiring 16 Haas students, twice the number hired the previous year. In total, 55 students went into consulting – or 27 percent of the class.
Tech firms drew even more of the Haas class, with 32 percent heading off to firms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon. Another 16 percent of the class took jobs in financial services with firms like Cambridge Associates and Citibank. The energy, healthcare and biotechnology sectors, meanwhile, each drew 7 percent of the class.
Feldman also reported that recruiting by global companies has increased this year. Companies including Chile’s LAN Airlines, Brazil’s Itau Unibanco and Chinese medical device firm Mindray have already been to campus for events and interviews.
For more details on Haas’s MBA Career Management Group, click here. For more on Haas’s 2011 job placement statistics, click here.
Read the full article: MBA Hiring Indicators Are Strong at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business