Placement

Returning to HBS after a fall semester break, I was sure I had come to the wrong place. Gone were the jeans and tee-shirts. Full-length fur coats (well, it was long ago), and three-piece dark suits ruled the frozen meadows and the overheated corridors.

"Interviewing!", a friend explained to me. Now, you have probably seen the recruiting scene in the movie "The Firm". Though there it was a law school rather than a B. school, it is the same game. Large and small corporations, banks, and consulting firms send their representatives (recruiters) to B. schools. Some recruit from specific schools (tradition, established relationships with the school, geographic proximity, reputation, Alma Mater, etc.). The large firms especially recruit at several or even many B. schools.

Usually descriptions of available positions are distributed among the graduating class, and the students forward their resumes to the corporations. Writing any resume is an art, and more so when you are 25 years old. Books, courses, family and friends offer do's and don'ts for when you write your resume or when you interview. This preliminary document matchmaking culminates in an interview. Many first-time interviews are carried out on-campus, the school providing facilities and administrative help. Remember, you "interview", you are not "being interviewed"! Your stakes are as high as those of the recruiting firm, if not higher.

All B. schools have a career opportunities center or other formal placement office, and hold corporation recruiting events (placement information was not available for Stanford and Texas).

"The Career Center at the Haas School works closely with MBA students to help them develop and achieve their career goals. From skills assessment and resume writing to recruiter contacts, job search techniques, interview training, and negotiating... (Berkeley, p. 28)

"First semester, we get you started by offering individual counseling and group programs on letter writing and resume packaging, self-assessment, interview techniques, and other job-hunting skills..... Second semester, we'll assist you in the search for an internship for the summer..... Third semester, you'll begin to schedule on-campus interviews for full-time openings.... Fourth semester, you'll continue your job search and probably weigh some excellent offers." (Cornell, p. 15)

"Managed by graduates of the MBA Program. .... A student's relationship with Placement begins in the first weeks of school with its comprehensive resume preparation and advising service. MBA Placement publishes a guide on the mechanics of a job search, as well as a weekly newsletter, the "10-K", which lists job opportunities and informs students of deadlines and events. Placement also works in partnership with many student clubs to support numerous panel discussions, information sessions, career fairs, and recruiting events. In addition, Placement works with alumni clubs in major cities to sponsor holiday receptions, inviting representatives of major employers along with local alumni and interested students." (Harvard, p. 13)

"Every year ..... publishes a resume book of first and second-year students to help employers identify likely candidates for openings before they conduct campus interviews. And don't think this book is sent to just a few businesses in the Midwest. More than 300 employers throughout the nation receive it. And we make it available electronically as well. ....

.... Through a well-orchestrated strategy of career-planning programs, each MBA student takes part in a series of career-development activities. You can choose from modules taught by the ..... staff on resume preparation, interviewing techniques, salary negotiations, and overall job-search strategies. We work hard at creating an environment that promotes effective networking". (Indiana, pp. 30-31)

"Seminars in recent years have focused on the career planing process, factors employers consider in evaluating job candidates, non-traditional MBA careers, conducting an independent job search, managing dual-career relationships, discussing compensation, and finding work in small companies. In addition, group workshops are offered on topics of self-assessment, resume development, and interview preparation/practice". (MIT, p. 51)

"Job-seeking students also receive helpful leads from Sloan faculty members who are connected to employers through consulting and research. Course assignments and thesis projects similarly provide opportunities for students to get to know key people in particular companies or industries". (MIT, p. 53)

"..... a full range of services to MBA candidates, including individual counseling, job search workshops, career information panels, resume preparation assistance and mock interviews". (North Carolina, p. 11)

"The Office of Career Development and Placement assists students in determining the fields and careers for which they are best qualified. Counseling sessions, workshops, and reference literature help students meet their objectives. Before on-campus interviewing begins, the staff offers students one-on-one mock interviews before a video camera, with the resulting tapes analyzed by a counselor. The office also maintains a career resource library which contains current literature on recruiting companies". (Northwestern, p. 29)

"Career Development staff provide the following services for all business students. .....

* Management on-campus interviewing process.

"Career management seminars for first year students provide the tools for independent career management. The seminars include information on self-assessment, career planning and occupational choices for MBAs. The Placement Office provides special sessions by staff, faculty and outside speakers on resume and cover-letter preparation, salary negotiation, the interviewing process and other topics". (Rochester, p. 60)

"Separate career counseling services are maintained for graduate students in order to meet the specialized requirements of this group. These graduate career services include career development workshops covering topics such as self-assessment, mock interviews, and industry outlooks". (Texas, p. 28)

"Counseland Advising sessions help students select or define caalternatives, target industry or employer groups consistent with their goals, and learn effective job-search strategies and skills such as letter writing, resume writing, resume development, interview techniques, salary and benefit negotiations, and job-offer evaluation. Sessions also provide opportunities to discuss such issues as dual careers and work-related problems". (UCLA, p. 34)

"Placement planning begins before students enroll at Owen. An early example of Owen's commitment to you and your personal career decisions is the counseling you receive as a candidate for admission. During the campus visit season, a member of the placement staff meets with visiting prospective students to provide an overview of the MBA career strategy process and to answer questions. Throughout your twenty-month Owen MBA experience - and your career - you will find the same level of attention and concern for your ongoing career development" (Vanderbilt, p. 22).

"The Career Services and Placement Office provides career resources for first year students who seek summer internships and second year students who seek permanent employment upon graduation. Students are encouraged to manage their schedules to allow time for a job search while participating in the academic program, to get an early start on developing and obtaining feedback on a career plan, to devote a sufficient amount of time and energy to researching the market and to use actively the career resources offered by Darden". (Virginia, p. 32)

"We give you opportunities to practice your interviewing skills. To develop your communication and interviewing skills, you might like to do a videotaped practice interview with your placement adviser. You can observe your verbal and nonverbal messages and get feedback about your general interviewing techniques and learn how to strengthen them". (Washington, p. 24).

"The Career Development Office offers students an extensive selection of workshops, lectures, discussions and presentations exposing them to a wide range of career options and assisting them in both evaluating their immediate career ideas and refining their long-range plans". (Yale, p. 43).

"Tuck alumni are fully willing to help the placement process. They work as corporate recruiters - well over half of the firms recruiting on campus are represented by Tuck alumni - they serve as panelists at placement informational sessions, and they act as networking resources to students in their searches". (Dartmouth, p. 17)

Alumni

"Alumni CEO's and top executives visit the campus each semester to lecture and attend sudent-sponsored events. As MBA mentors and informal resources, they assist with career planning and management. Alumni also interact with students at the forums, firm nights, seminars, and networking opportunities offered within the school" (Berkeley, p. 5). "One of the school's most popular events is the Alumni/Student Career Day, when alumni representing their firms join students to discuss job opportunities. (Berkeley, p. 31)

"Upon graduation, Chicago M.B.A.'s receive not only a prestigious degree but also a lifetime membership in an invaluable network of nearly 29,000 fellow alumni worldwide. The growing demand for career information also has cultivated a true service aspect of the alumni club network, with groups sponsoring career-review and job-search seminars. A recent addition to the array of services available to alumni is the Career Management Office, which offers individual career counseling and a bimonthly newsletter with job listings". (Chicago, p. 37)

"The Columbia network of more than 21,000 alumni living in 49 states and over 100 countries benefits its students throughout their careers. More than 40 domestic and international clubs sponsor educational and social events around the world. Career changers often return to Columbia to seek alumni contacts in a new field. The Columbia Business School alumni network is beneficial to both current students and alumni". (Columbia, p. 27)

"The alumni, who have volunteered to meet with students, candidly discuss the advantages and disadvantages inherent in their lines of work. Alumni may also suggest courses that are particularly useful in the student's field of interest". (Columbia, p. 22)

"Alumni help prospective and current Tuck students in a variety of ways. They assist in the admissions process by interviewing applicants unable to visit Tuck. Each year some 150 alumni speak in Tuck classes or work with students on a variety of study projects. Alumni support Tuck financially as well". (Dartmouth, p. 15)

"The worldwide organization of 88 HBS clubs includes 40 clubs outside of the United States". (Harvard, p. 7)

"Alumni can be found in a multitude of different occupations and job functions - there is certainly no job that can be considered typical. Graduates of the School now comprise about 20% of the top three officers in Fortune 500 companies and also have a major impact through entrepreneurial ventures. In addition to achieving professional success, HBS alumni are active leaders in community, religious, educational, and political activities". (Harvard, p. 8)

"According to the 1989 Bank of Boston Study, MIT alumni/ae have founded more than 600 companies in Massachusetts, providing over 300,000 jobs in the state. Of these companies 224 have been founded since 1980". (MIT, p. 57)

"The School continues to work with alumni seeking new job opportunities and career counseling. A database of available positions and alumni looking for new jobs is kept by OCS". (North Carolina, p. 11)

"Upon completion of a Kellogg education, graduates are part of a network of 33,000 alumni, inhabiting 83 countries and all 50 states. ......., provides a program to help alumni who are changing careers or seeking job opportunities. Workshops, a formal network of alumni career advisors, and a career newsletter are among the offerings of the program". (Northwestern, p. 33)

"Stern School alumni have built a truly global network. Stern graduates become members of this network of more than 25,000 - many of whom occupy some of the most important executive positions in the U.S. and the world ....... A 1992 survey by Standard & Poor's Corporation ranked NYU second only to Harvard as a source of top executives in major corporations. Korn-Ferry International found that Stern ranks first as the source of graduates for senior executive women in large companies. Active alumni clubs have been established nationally and internationally, providing alumni with opportunities to socialize and network with other Stern graduates". (NYU, p. 36)

"Alumni and business associates of the Simon School contribute to the seminar sequences as career seminar panelists, discussing their experiences in financial analysis, management consulting, commercial and investment banking, marketing, information systems and operations management". (Rochester, p. 60)

"The Anderson Management Alumni Association (AMAA) connects the school with its alumni and alumni with each other. AMAA gathers members together for activities including faculty presentations, industry seminars, and networking events in Los Angeles and Orange County, Chicago, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C., as well as international locations such as Hong Kong, London, Mexico City, Paris, Santiago, Taipei, and Tokyo.

As a student you will have many opportunities to meet with alumni at orientation events, Career Nights, the MBA Interchange, various club activities, and Anderson Dinners for Eight, which bring together faculty, students and alumni on a single evening at numerous homes across the city". (UCLA, p. 39)

"The SOM alumni network is built of hundreds of individuals in every sector and region, representing an invaluable resource for students. In addition, the many alumni clubs of Yale University are a valuable resource for SOM graduates". (Yale, p. 44).

Careers

There are very many different management careers in and outside business. Some of them are:

A: Accounting information is one of the essential bases of business and corporate planning. The function of the accountant is to c, analyze, measure and plan the organization's income and expenditures, as well as to ensure the efficiency and accuracy of the financial procedures.

Finance: Financial management is concerned with the deployment of the efficient and effective organization's financial resources and the evaluation of new capital investments.

Human Resources Management: This area of the organization's activities today extends far beyond the traditional personnel management of years gone by. The planning, recruiting, training and management of human resources have become an integral part of the organization's overall strategic policy.

International business: In today's globalized business world, international business is no longer simply a functional specialty. Suitably qualified MBA's may look forward to a career in managing the international operations of manufacturing and service organizations or directing the increasingly international financial operations of banks and financial institutions.

"After graduation, a select group of Haas MBAs has expanded their business experiences as part of the MBA Enterprise Corps, a consortium of 22 top U.S. business schools founded in 1990 that matches recent graduates to Eastern European companies in need of Western management expertise". (Berkeley, p. 17)

"As business becomes more global, employment markets are becoming increasingly international. In 1991, 22 percent of Wharton MBAs accepted positions overseas and over 45 percent entered jobs with international responsibilities." (Wharton, p. 20).

Marketing: Marketing is concerned with determining consumers' tastes and needs, creating the goods and services to meet these needs, introducing the goods and services into the domestic and international markets, distributing and selling them. These processes are of course innately connected with market research, advertising, promotion and packaging.

Operations Management: The responsibility of the operations manager covers the range of activities involved in developing and managing an efficient combination of people, machines, and raw materials to produce the firm's output. The organizational systems through which work is planned, performed and assessed span the firm's functional activities, typically including procurement, logistics, accounting procedures, computer system, human resource planning, and marketing services.

Management Consulting: The services provided by management consultants range from to installing accounting systems, developing information systems, manpower management, marketing research, quality management, strategy making, to reorganization.

Management Information Systems: The pulse of the organization, management information systems support operations, management and decision making. In providing an overview of the organization, they serve as the basis for analysis, system design and implementation, manual procedures, and decision making.

Arts Management: The creative arts industries - publishing houses, film studios, television and radio, orchestras, dance and theater companies, museums - are not too different from manufacturing and service industries in terms of the operational and financial decisions they need to make. Furthermore, most of these organizations have the additional problem of acquiring subsidies for their activities from public sources.

Educational Administration: Educational institutions from schools to universities and adult education facilities have managerial needs just as any other kind of organization, in human resources, information systems, operations, marketing, and financial management.

Government: The disciplines of accounting, organizational structure, and operations management, as well as policy making, are applicable at the federal, state and local government levels.

Health Care Administration: Career opportunities in the administration of health care institutions are fast increasing in line with the needs of this constantly growing sector. A specially challenging facet is controlling the spiraling costs of the health service.

Non-profit Organizations: Even though they are not profit motivated, these organizations need to operate efficiently and effectively, within a defined budget if they are to survive. Thus they face the same managerial problems as profit organizations.

Was It Worthwhile?

The Economist (August 6th, 1994) reporting on an incoming book: "The MBA Advantage: Why It Pays to Get an MBA" (by Ronald Yeaple; Boston, Mass: Bob Adams) concluded: "the gains are pretty thin, if not negative".

Focusing on the leading B. Schools (Business Week's list and data), Professor Yeaple, Rochester, took into account the average annual incomes of MBA graduates five years after graduation, average salary without an MBA, loss of two years' income while taking the MBA program and school's tuition (an investment which may exceed $100,000) for a cost-benefit analysis of an MBA.

Well, that's easy. You may calculate the net present value of this investment (assuming your alternative rate of return investing the same amount somewhere else), or calculate its internal rate of return based on its future fruits (your additional yearly income attributable to the MBA degree). Both calculations take into account the time value of money: a dollar to be earned ten years down the road is worth much less than a dollar invested today.

Well, that's not easy. In addition to forecasts and predictions about future earnings, many decisions should be made about the cost-benefit analysis. Should additional taxes be taken into account? How far into the future should calculations be made? Many assumptions also need to be made: do MBA students have any salary income during the two years of the program (including summers)? could tuition costs be alternatively used? should additional earnings be attributed to the MBA degree, or do leading B. schools accept those who would have earned more anyhow?

Assuming you trust all forecasts, decisions, and assumptions (and there is no mistake in the calculations), you'll get a monetary value (net present value, internal rate of return) which will indicate whether you should invest in a business-school graduate education. But you invested more than money, you invested two years of your life: you had to give up some things (accommodations, location, leisure, family), and postpone others (getting married, visit Nepal). Your gains may also be more than monetary gains: knowledge, attitudes, experiences, memories, friends (and business connections, but these can be quantified). These should be measured by utiles not by dollars. However, utility function and its uses is way beyond the scope of this book. Any MBA program teaches that.

By the way, The Economist reports that Professor Yeaple used nominal rather than discounted values in his calculations. He thought potential students might not understand the results. They should, Professor Yeaple, or they won't.