MBA Job Opportunities: BlackRock
Though many MBA grads are passionate about their career prospects, those driven to work in the financial industry may be more reticent to commit to a life of uncomfortable suits and harsh fluorescent lights. A TINYpulse study found that employees at financial service companies have some of the lowest career satisfaction rates out there, despite stable salaries. The study put the amount of financial service employees who are happy with their work environment at less than 22 percent. In fact, an eFinancialCareers study found that one third of bankers hate their jobs. So, does an MBA and a penchant for finance mean a life of tolerating punishing work hours with little recognition from colleagues and superiors? Not necessarily.
Recent MBA grads with a penchant for finance will be pleased to learn that BlackRock, Inc., one of the largest asset-management companies in the world, provides a different kind of environment from the majority of financial institutions. Business Insider consistently ranks BlackRock as one of the premier financial employers in the U.S, writing, “The firm is big on employee development plans and employee engagement. For example, employees get to pitch ideas to senior executives at the two-day Innovation Summit, which helps spur new products for retirees and connect coworkers across different departments, according to LinkedIn.”
Why Work at BlackRock?
In a Business Insider interview, Jeff Smith, Senior Managing Director at BackRock’s Head of Global Human Resources Group, called BlackRock, “… an incredibly passionate place with a very clear sense of purpose that comes from Larry Fink, our founder and CEO, to everyone else in the company.”
BlackRock is renowned for its relaxed corporate culture, and 73 percent of its employees report high job satisfaction. The company employs over 130 investment teams in 30 different countries, so there is ample opportunity to join BlackRock beyond its New York City headquarters.
BlackRock’s effort to create a successful and diverse environment has been nothing short of empowering. Since 2015, over 2000 of the company’s prominent employers joined in the “Driving Better Decisions” initiative, which aims to help remove “unconscious bias” in decision-making, according to the official BlackRock website, as well as rethink the way human resources recruits and develops diverse talent. While the gender ratio at the company is still predominantly male, BlackRock has also made a concerted effort to increase female employment in senior management roles to 30 percent by the end of the decade, signing the HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter.
Pay Day
According to recent PayScale survey figures, MBA grads, despite their role, earn around $86,000 annually at BlackRock. These figures fluctuate depending on the specific role, rising to as much as $316,000 per year for investment strategists. According to the same data, bonuses at the company are also pretty exceptional. Portfolio managers reported an average bonus of $39,000 per year, while even the lowest bonus figures neared $10,000 per year.
Figures according to PayScale data.
Interning at BlackRock
For students nearing the end of their higher education journey, BlackRock offers summer internships for a glimpse of life at the company. BlackRock’s global Analyst Program is a two year-long entry level program for new graduates. The program kicks off with a training in New York City. Throughout the program, trainees will develop their skills in communicating with clients and understanding how to help them manage fiduciary matters.
BlackRock offers several other internships, and is conscious of promoting diversity in their industry. The Founders Scholarship provides merit rewards and a summer internship to students who identify as Black, Hispanic, Native American, LGBTQ, or disabled. Merit awards for this scholarship can be as high as $15,000.
Getting Hired
In an interview with eFinancialCareers, Jonathan Jones, director of global campus recruiting at BlackRock, gave some insight into how interested candidates can get their foot in the door at the company.
“What I think makes a BlackRock person stand out though, is that we look for people who embody or represent our principles. For example, we have a commitment to innovation. Innovation—original thinking, problem solving, and creativity – is central to our identity. Equally, we have a strong commitment to teamwork, and we look for people who can join the dots between our disparate activities in ways which can solve problems for our clients,” Jones said.
According to Jones, BlackRock hires many recent university graduates with Bachelor’s degrees, and the company also hires MBA candidates who have work experience that is relevant to specific positions, such as real estate and equity research.
A recent highlight from Clear Admit on the best business school’s for MBA grads that want to break into the industry that these five schools produced the most finance employees:
- Columbia Business School
- University of Chicago Booth School of Business
- New York University Stern School of Business
- University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School
- Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management
BlackRock has been actively recruiting at the world’s high ranking universities, stopping by Columbia Business School as recently as last month for an information session. Read here to find out for more events the company is hosting in the coming weeks and months and check out more about a potential career with BlackRock below.
LBS Employment Report Finds Grads Falling Out Of Love With Finance
London Business School MBA graduates may be seeing higher salaries and increased hiring rates, but its love of the finance industry may be waning.
According to the 2016 London Business School employment report, MBA grads are joining the financial sector at the lowest rate in five years. LBS grads are still joining the industry at 25 percent overall, which trails the 35 percent of graduates that enter consulting. Technology, which hired the third-most LBS 2016 graduates, came in third at 21 percent—the same percentage from the previous year.
via London Business School Employment Report 2016
Goldman Sachs, which typically hires the most LBS MBAs that move into the financial sector, only hired six employees from the 2016 class, down from nine the previous year. Credit Suisse and Citi Bank also hired less grads than the previous year. This all comes despite the fact that the aforementioned companies hired several more total summer interns, but did not retain them. For instance, Goldman Sachs took in 13 interns but only hired six employees—creating a retainment rate of only 46 percent.
Another marked difference is the slightly noticeable decline in finance hires joining private equity firms rather than traditional investment banks. 2016 marked the first year—ever—that more joined private firms, with nine percent of graduates compared to seven percent joining investment banking. These figures fall in line with trends that have persisted since the financial collapse of 2008. eFinancialCareers debuted a report in September of 2016 that found a steadily declining love between MBAs and traditional big banking.
If you’re in London in particular, therefore, the MBA-into-banking route has pretty much disappeared in 2016. Banks’ recruiters say it’s the culmination of a long term trend. ‘This has been going on since 2008,’ says one, speaking off the record. ‘Once things got tough, MBAs just weren’t seen as value for money any more.’
Despite the dampening of the overall numbers, salary rates saw a noticeable bump for finance industry hires. The average annual salary of 2016 grads jumped from £78,358 to £81,905, with the highest max salary leaping from £125,468 to £151,469.
Consulting Hires Jump
The total percentage of LBS graduates joining the consulting industry jumped moderately from 33 percent in 2015 to 35 percent last year, with the majority of hires joining Boston Consulting Group (BCG), McKinsey & Co. and Bain & Company. BCG specifically saw hires nearly double over the course of a year, improving from 19 to 34 total.
Like the financial sector LBS hires, salaries increased across the board for consulting industry MBAs. The average annual salary of those in the industry leaped from £79,773 to £83,268, although the highest salary tracked was £117,389—down from £121,824 in 2015.
The Incoming LBS MBA Class
A total of 411 new students will join LBS in 2017, ranging from 24 to 39 years of age. They enter the MBA program with an average of five years of professional work experience and a 701 GMAT score (up from 699 last year). As well, there is a moderate increase in female students and diversified nationalities. Accepted female applicants jumped to 37 percent from 36 percent, and 68 total nationalities are represented, up from 65 in 2015.
You can read the entire LBS 2016 employment report here.
