The Top Vancouver Companies for MBAs
With one of the most rapidly expanding economies in Canada, Vancouver has become a destination not only for tourism but also for transplants wishing to advance their careers. The total transition from a resourced based to a knowledge based economy makes it a vibrant center for various industries, including banking, tech, sustainable design and construction and international commerce. The city is also known as “Hollywood North” for those looking to make it into the business side of the entertainment industry.
Its beautiful landscape and temperate Pacific northwestern climate only add to the city’s appeal. In this article, we’ll take a dive into some of the top hiring companies in Vancouver for MBAs.
The Top Vancouver Companies for MBAs
Hootsuite
Hootsuite, the tool used by companies to harness their social media presence, is one of the top tech firms to call Vancouver home. With capabilities that benefit industries such as finance, healthcare, higher ed, and government, Hootsuite employs a diverse group of people across its international offices.
According to its site, the company is currently hiring a Vice President of Corporate Marketing, a Manager of Enterprise Marketing for the Americas, and a Senior Manager for Product Insights and Analytics.
Paysa reports that the average salary at Hootsuite is $126,444. This breaks down to $72,000 in the 25th percentile and $160,000 in the 75th percentile. The company has a high percentage of those with a combination of social media, marketing, and management expertise.
Lululemon
Athletic apparel company Lululemon Athletica, founded in Vancouver in 1998, also retains its headquarters there. Within its first two decades, the company made it onto Fortune‘s Fastest Growing Companies list, and this prediction held true.
For those with career goals incorporating social responsibility, Lululemon is a great fit. The company is part of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, which ensures that members meet rigorous production and distribution standards for environmental, social and economic sustainability. Employing a ‘guerrilla marketing’ strategy in which customers feel part of a larger community as consumers of the product, Lululemon has become synonymous with the outdoorsy, athletic, and fit lifestyle that embodies Vancouver.
The company is currently hiring a Director of Marketing/CRM Analytics; a Business Analyst for Corporate Finance Systems, and a Vice President of Development, all of which may be of interest to MBAs hoping to settle in Vancouver. According to recent data, the 75th percentile of earners at Lululemon make $118,000, while the average is around $70,000.
TELUS
TELUS is Canada’s top telecommunications company, specializing in internet, voice and cable technology. Originally founded in Edmonton, Alberta, TELUS now provides telecom services to a large number of provinces in Canada. Analogous to Comcast or Verizon in the states, TELUS employs thousands in Vancouver, and appeals in particular to MBAs for its omnipresence as a corporate entity.
TELUS is currently hiring for Operations and Product Development Managers, Senior Strategy Managers, and Business Analysts. Salary reports state an average of $104,000, $74,000 in the 25th percentile, and just under $130,000 in the 75th percentile.
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts is another dominant employer in Vancouver, and is obviously an ideal choice for MBAs with a foot in the gaming and tech world. Frostbite Labs, headquartered in Vancouver and in Stockholm, is a division of EA with a specialty in virtual reality tech. As a leader in the monetization of video games and apps, along with its exclusive partnership with Disney, Electronic Arts is an ever growing entity for an MBA in search of a great career move.
EA in Vancouver is currently in search of Communications Brand Managers, a Senior Quality Analyst, and a Development Director in Vancouver. Average salaries at EA rate at a highly competitive $132,000 on average, $93,000 in the 25th percentile, and $160,000 in the top 75 percent.
Top MBA Recruiters: Bowery Capital
Founded in 2013, NYC-based Bowery Capital is an early-stage venture capital investor that primarily backs SaaS (software-as-a-service) B2B (business-to-business) startups that develop innovative software that allows companies to optimize the role of a continually changing technological landscape.
Bowery Capital is a relatively small firm with less than 50 employees and it has three groups of four individuals at the center of its operations. These groups are the Core Team, the Venture Partners, and the Revenue Council.
Bowery Capital doesn’t just invest in companies—it also provides them the right tools to succeed. It helps these companies build a customer base, provides them with a “robust software infrastructure” to enable growth, and offers crucial support in finding the right talent. This support coupled with the expertise of a combined 50 years of collective experience is what makes Bowery Capital stand out to young companies on the hunt for potential investors.
Landing a Bowery Capital Career
Considering the kinds of startups in which Bowery Capital specializes, any experience that a job applicant might have in software, digital marketing, digital media, online advertising, product management, or social media would give said applicant an edge in the hiring process. Another valuable asset is a keen sense for possible areas of growth within the tech industry.
It should be noted that at the time this article was written, there are no job openings at Bowery Capital. While the company does offer internships for MBA and undergraduate students, there appear to be no openings for those positions.
Working at Bowery Capital
Since the firm is relatively young and small, it is difficult to say much about Bowery Capital’s workplace culture. Its website lists a 12-member team and Glassdoor reviews from former employees suggest that Bowery Capital has a regular stream of interns working there on a part-time, short-term basis.
According to Paysa, Bowery Capital employees make an average annual salary of $146,819, with $97,852 marking the 25th percentile and $179,767 at the 75th percentile. However, this data does not indicate the average salaries by position, so it is unclear how much an employee who recently graduated with an MBA would make.
Life at Bowery Capital
Bowery Capital has not published any employee demographics or statements about their workplace culture, but all reviews from former employees on Glassdoor are overwhelmingly positive. In particular, they are nearly unanimous in their praise for a positive atmosphere and the expertise of their supervisors. The only con was from a former summer intern who mentioned that they had not been paid for their work at the firm.
Paysa also offers some helpful statistics on workplace demographics. Fifty-six percent of Bowery Capital’s employees are white, while the rest declined to offer this information. About 89 percent are male with the remaining 11 percent declining to disclose their gender. However, of the 12 team members listed on the company’s website, 5 are women. Additionally, the Paysa information is based on fewer than 20 users, so both of these data sets are in all likelihood only a small portion of Bowery Capital’s workforce.
Bowery Capital only has one office in New York City, but they invest in companies all over the country, especially on the West Coast, which as you may have heard has a thriving community of technological innovators.
While half of the Bowery Capital team is based in New York City, four are based in San Francisco and two are based in Boston. With this in mind, it seems likely that a Bowery Capital career would likely be based in New York City with potential opportunities for travel.
Five Surprisingly Lucrative MBA Destinations
Even though the most common MBA careers are those in the areas of consulting, banking and finance, there are other options out there. In fact, you’d be surprised to learn which companies truly value hiring MBAs into high paying management positions, and the sectors those firms occupy. Whether its tech, media, or retail, here’s a breakout of five surprisingly lucrative MBA destinations. Continue reading…
Facebook Tops Glassdoor’s 100 Best Places to Work List
Employer review website Glassdoor, which allows users to read anonymous employee testimonials about employers, has revealed its annual “Best Places to Work” list, with familiar MBA recruiters Facebook, Bain & Co, and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) earning the top three spots.
Why Facebook?
Since 2011, the social media empire has been one of Glassdoor’s most praised companies to work for, earning a top five spot seven out of the past eight years, including three number one overall awards. Facebook employees are often given extensive benefits, including four months of paid maternity leave—a policy often considered a luxury in the U.S., which has no legally mandated paternity leave policies for employers. As well, earlier this year, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg announced the company would implement paid sick time for employees and family members.
With increasing revenue streams, the company’s hiring numbers have continued to swell, with nearly 19,000 employees as of earlier this year—a 38 percent jump from March 2016 to March 2017. In fact, just this week, the company announced it will be adding 800 more jobs at its new London office.
Data via Facebook, graphic by The Atlas/via Quartz.
Of course, the central pitch to work at the social media monolith may be predicated on the payment of employees. According to Paysa, the average Facebook salary is north of $250,000 annually, combining base pay, bonuses, and equity. Most jobs at the company start at, at least, $70,000 USD annually, with business management roles starting at $135,000.
The company has also made a concerted effort at diversifying its hiring. Speaking with Forbes, Lori Goler, vice president of people, said, “Diversity is critical to our mission at Facebook, because we serve a community of 2 billion around the world, and of course there’s diversity in that community.”
The company, according to Forbes, employs between 33 and 35 percent women, and there has been considerable gains among women employed with computer science and engineering backgrounds, as well as a 500 percent increase in employment among those of African descent since 2014. In the interview, Goler added, “We’re nowhere near where we want to be, but we’re at least hearted to see that at least we can make some progress.”
Check out Facebook’s graduate student recruitment page here.
Consulting Companies Still Reign
While certain statistics indicate a wave of MBA grads may be leaving consulting in favor of tech-centric employers, as evident by the recently released Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management employment report, consulting companies are remain one of the primary targets for MBA students and graduates, and for good reason.
Bain & Co., like Facebook, has been endlessly praised by Glassdoor reviews, ranking among the top four best places to work every year since 2009. Like most of the companies on the year-end list, Bain offers ample benefits, including several months of paid maternity leave, comprehensive vacation and insurance policies, and one of the world’s best 401K offers. Fellow Boston metro company BCG also officers a considerable parental leave benefits package, retirement planning, and lofty salaries.
Inside the New York City BCG office/Photo via BCG.
Like Bain, BCG makes a concerted effort to bring in incredibly comparable MBA graduates, recruiting students from multiple prominent business schools like The Wharton School, NYU Stern, Columbia Business School, and many more.
Some Traditional Companies Remain Steady, While Giants Like Apple Stumble
Tech empire Google, not surprisingly, held its place among the top 10 companies—having never fallen lower than eighth overall since 2012. Just outside of the top ranking companies, McKinsey & Co. stayed within the top 20, while other notable heavyweights like Microsoft (39th), Capital One (69th), Deloitte (77th), Accenture (83rd), and Apple (84th), the world’s most successful consumer company, fell to the lower ends of the list.
Despite having the second most profitable year in company history, falling shortly behind it’s 2015 figures, Apple has been steadily dropping down Glassdoor’s annual Best Of list, posting its worst standing in the history of the ranking—nearly 50 spots worse than last year’s ranking of 36th overall.
Considering, however, that the annual ranking is comprises of over 500,000 companies, this drop may not be as serious as it would appear. The overall Glassdoor rating for Apple was 4.3, in contrast to Facebook, which boasts a current 4.6 rating. The average Glassdoor rating for employers, for context, is 3.3.
Some Surprises
Not every company included in the Glassdoor Best Of list could be considered a traditional MBA recruiters, including beloved U.S. west coast fast food chain In-N-Out Burger (fourth overall), growing athletic leisurewear empire Lululemon (sixth), wine company E. & J. Gallo Winery(14th), Delta Airlines (17th), and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (19th), which provides “Excellent dental and medical coverage,” according to an anonymous employee. Plus, “you work with people who don’t swear.”
For a more extensive overview of the methodology behind the ranking, click here.
