Careers services: Who you know, as well as what you know

Aug 3rd 2016, 15:09 by C.S-W

WHEN evaluating business schools, MBA applicants look at a number of statistics to help make their choice of institution. One area that is sometimes overlooked in favour of remuneration or the quality of faculty is perhaps the most important: the careers services. An MBA qualification in itself is widely considered a net benefit. But is not a guarantee of a job. The quality of a business school’s career service is as important an indicator of future earnings as a GMAT entry standard, or the breadth and depth of its alumni.

“We believe our career services are an extension of our mission itself: to create enduring knowledge, and to educate students,” says Sunil Kumar, the dean of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, which took the top place in The Economist’s latest ranking of full-time MBA programmes. The school offers a unified careers service across all its MBA programmes—not just its full-time course—for candidates. Booth also employs 12 people in its employer relations team, whose primary job is to maintain good relationships with potential employers, laying the groundwork for the school’s MBA students to connect with businesses upon graduation. (MBAs are taught the power of networking in business throughout their stay at business school; networking is just as vital for the people who will help MBAs find their first foot on the career ladder.)

The employer relations team works closely with organisations, visiting their place of business to discuss their needs and feeding that back to the school. While there, they also have the opportunity to trumpet their candidates’ skills: no bad thing for business schools churning out employable candidates on an annual basis. “We want to provide as broad a menu as possible of potential opportunities,” Mr Kumar says.

Those constant connections with employers are of vital importance to business schools, and to their student body. GMAC, which the body that administers the GMAT application test, surveys businesses that frequently interact with business schools’ career departments. In the coming year, 71% of European employers said they planned to employ MBA graduates. This year GMAC also asked a different group of employers—those which have less contact with business schools throughout the year—how likely they were to hire newly minted MBAs. The contrast was striking: in Britain, just 38% were looking to recruit holders of the degree; in France, 39%; in Germany, 37%.

It is not surprising that better contact with, and knowledge of, a business school’s crop of candidates makes employers more likely to cherry pick the best for their companies. But it does show the importance for all parties—firms, schools and students—of maintaining contact. And at the crux of that relationship is the careers service. As anyone with business nouse knows, it’s not just what you know, but who you (and your career department) knows, too.

guest-ajljlmjs Dec 13th 2016 11:41 GMT

Getting MBA is so important for your future career. College is not enough. MBA looks great on your resume and gives you instant privilege among other applicants. Create your awesome resume here http://smartresumesolutions.com/and find a perfect job after finishing MBA.

Which MBA?

Careers services: Who you know, as well as what you know

Readers' comments