Percentage of Students with Job Offers Before Graduation at Highest Level Since 2001
MCLEAN, Va., June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- Today's challenging economic conditions have not spoiled the party for new MBAs seeking to put their degrees to work.
The majority of job-seeking MBA students preparing to complete business school this year landed at least one job offer before finishing their studies, according to the 2008 Global MBA(R) Graduate Survey conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council(R) (GMAC(R)). GMAC is the sponsor of the Graduate Management Admission Test(R) (GMAT(R)).
Fifty-seven percent of the graduating business school students participating in the Council's annual poll of new MBAs -- and in the market for a job -- said they had received an offer of employment. Not since the 2001 Global MBA survey has such a large proportion of new MBAs had a job lined up in advance of graduation.
"Although the global economy is struggling to regain its footing, newly minted MBAs are still highly sought after," said Dave Wilson, president and CEO of the Graduate Management Admission Council. "Graduates of full-time programs with job offers tell us that they anticipate a salary increase of 74 percent above their pre-MBA job, on average. For graduates of part-time programs, the expected bump in pay averages 53 percent."
The GMAC survey also indicates that business school students are highly satisfied with their educations -- and prize their degrees for reasons that transcend the higher salaries and other perks likely to come their way because of their work. The top reason respondents gave for why they value their educations is the sense of personal satisfaction and achievement gained from the experience. Also high on the list was the potential for gaining more challenging and interesting work in the future.
Another noteworthy finding is that graduates of full-time MBA programs are more satisfied with their business school experiences than their counterparts who attended part-time programs by a small but statistically significant margin. Among people who attended full-time programs, men reported greater satisfaction than women did. There was no meaningful difference by gender for part-time programs.
The 2008 GMAC Global MBA Graduate Survey includes responses from 5,312 students at 149 graduate schools of business around the world.
The Graduate Management Admission Council (www.gmac.com), based in McLean, Va., is a nonprofit education organization of leading graduate business schools worldwide dedicated to creating access to and disseminating information about graduate management education. GMAC annually surveys thousands of corporate recruiters, MBA students and business school alumni to gauge their feelings about the job market and collect other data. The Council also owns the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), used by approximately 4,000 graduate management programs at some 1,800 business schools around the world to assess applicants. The GMAT was created in 1954 and remains the first and only standardized test specifically designed for graduate business and management programs. More information about the GMAT is at www.mba.com.
