Broaden your horizons
Prospective MBA applicants are being urged to broaden the scope of career possibilities when seeking career enhancement. There are many sectors, which can profit by MBA educated professionals and thus represent new avenues of previously unexplored business opportunity.
Ian Hardie, associate dean of executive education at London Business School says: 'The quiet time has helped MBAs to become more astute at considering a wider range of jobs. The traditional recruiter has started to return but it will never be as hot a market as it was during the M&A and dotcom boom years'.
Mindy Storrie, president of the MBA Career Services Council, an organization that represents predominately US business schools, says that the trend cuts both ways.
'We have a theory that the war on terror brought a renewed interest in management and how you could best handle problems. Organisations needed to figure out how to handle this changed world and they needed the directional skills of MBA graduates.'
The biggest increase has been in recruitment by government agencies and healthcare organizations. The MBA Career Services Council showed in November a 10% increase of graduates going into these sectors.
Dezso Harvath, dean of Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto stated: 'Graduates often obtain matches from the location of the school. For example, London and New York are weighted towards finance and consulting jobs. However, there has been a rise in property and media recruitment, which is a reflection of Toronto's role as a hotbed for these sectors. Believe it or not, there are more films made in Toronto than in Hollywood so we get more graduates going into that industry, and we've done well out of the construction boom in China so more graduates are joining real estate companies.'
The best news of all, of course, is that most schools have reported the strong return of traditional recruiters. 'It's a rebound we're happy to see. For us it's always good to see an increase in opportunities but it's even better when it's in an industry to which you are well suited.' states Ms Storrie.
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Careers and Recruitment
Global Recruiters Want Team Players
Business schools have begun suddenly to question if they are meeting the goals of MBA employers. There are two principal reasons: First, a flush of recent corporate scandals; and secondly the dearth of suitable jobs for MBA graduates graduating between 2000 and 2003.
"Scandal is an issue that is stifling way companies," says Patrick hawker, dean of the Wharton School. "Ethics used to be a given so that we can get on with the creative aspects of the business."
Most business schools agree that this is a term issue. Harvard, for exampl...
