Top MBA Recruiters: Nike

“Just do it.”

Simple and unimaginably iconic, it’s perhaps the world’s most popular corporate slogan, attached to the world’s most lucrative sports business company. Headquartered in the Portland, Oregon metro area, Nike’s annual revenue exceeded $32 billion in this year and the company employs more than 62,000 people worldwide. Forbes currently estimates that the brand is the 18th most valuable in the world.

Despite opening more than 850 stores and outlets around the world, Nike, Inc. had humble beginnings as Blue Ribbon Sports more than 50 years ago. Founded by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight, the company officially altered its name to Nike in 1971 famously in homage to the Greek goddess of victory of the same name. While modestly successful, the company’s presence exploded in the 1980s when it signed basketball ultra-star Michael Jordan to sneaker deal, propelling the company upwards as the most popular shoe manufacturer in the world.

While Nike pushes athletes to wear their products to break through any barriers and achieve on the field of play, the company is also known for hiring MBAs and asking them to “Just Do It” in the corporate world.

According to CNN Money, 8.87 percent of MBAs want to work for Nike at its 176-acre headquarters near downtown Portland where each of the 18 buildings on campus is named after a sports figure the company has been closely associated with such as Mia Hamm and Tiger Woods.

The company is also looking for new candidates who can help bring Nike’s prominence overseas, especially in China, where Nike is building a new 600,000-square-foot campus in Shanghai.

Mary Remuzzi, director of global corporate communications, told CNN Money that, “We look for candidates who are leaders, risk-takers, innovators, passionate about sport, possess an entrepreneurial spirit and who are competitive in nature.”

The company can and will ask a lot out of MBAs. New employees themselves doing anything from establishing the vision for a product line to building relationships with high-profile athletes, which sounds like a dream come true for many.

CNN Money also reports that the best way to land a full-time position at Nike is through the company’s internship program. According to Remuzzi, the company currently actively recruits at about 10 B-schools and has about 55 MBA interns during the summer.

According to Nike:

In Nike’s paid internship program, undergraduate and graduate students get a full immersion into the brand’s culture of curiosity and innovation. Interns interact with top company leaders, tackle complex business challenges, and build relationships and skills that endure far beyond their several months at Nike. They work on teams such as design, global communications, digital and technology, finance, supply chain and practically every other area of the company. They gain access to Nike’s world-class facilities and employee benefits, including product discounts.

In an interview with Cosmo, Monique Matheson, vice president and chief talent and diversity officer, explained more about the internship program at Nike:

Our U.S. internship program is a robust 12-week experience that runs from June through August. Nike interns focus on a project aligned to the area of the business they work in [and work on] a team project to propose a solution to a real business [problem]. Team projects are shared through a project pitch at the end of the summer. We also host optional social events throughout the summer such as whitewater rafting, local professional sports games, socials with other companies’ intern classes, and the opportunity to run in our Bowerman 5K in honor of our late co-founder, Bill Bowerman.

Matheson also explained that the majority of our Nike internships are based out of the Portland headquarters, but that internships are also located in places like, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis. Internship opportunities abroad exist at Nike’s European headquarters in the Netherlands as well as London, Moscow and Berlin. In Asia, internship opportunities primarily exist at the Asia headquarters in Shanghai.

According to The Balance, interns receive a competitive salary, with MBA Interns averaging about $36.93 per hour. Glassdoor.com reviews show that former interns have rated the Nike program as 4.1 on a scale of 5.

How about life after your internship? Nike’s jobs page outlines several opportunities for those with MBA degrees including director of North American merchandising strategy, finance manager revenue and margin management as well as a one-year contract for a supply chain assistant analytics manager.

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