Where Should I Work: A.T. Kearney or Bain?
A.T. Kearney and Bain are two of the top consulting firms in the world. They are elite organizations that offer employees a blend of prestige, high compensation, and exciting opportunities. So, it should be no surprise that they are highly sought-after employers for MBA graduates.
Continue reading…Georgia Tech’s Full-Time MBA Recruiter Answers Our 5 Questions
In our latest installment of the MetroMBA “5 Questions” series, we speak with Amy Hayes, Full-Time MBA Recruiter at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Hayes talks about what makes an ideal Georgia Tech MBA candidate, what to know before applying, and much more, below.
1.) What Advantages Does a GT Scheller MBA Have Compared to Other Offerings in Georgia?
“What makes Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business stand out is the way our curriculum and experiential learning opportunities explore the intersection of business and technology. Many of our students do come from a technical educational and professional background; however, we have nearly as many who don’t. All students are looking to address gaps, in technology or business acumen or both, to prepare to pivot into a new career or to gain a better framework for decision-making. In other words, our program is approachable no matter your background is. Our aim is to produce MBAs who understand how technology drives innovation in any industry. A general understanding of technology’s power is vital to any role. While many of our students take a broad approach to our flexible curriculum, we offer concentrations in seven functional areas and nine interdisciplinary areas that often draw students into our flagship coursework in Business Analytics, Strategic Sustainability, Marketing, Supply Chain and Innovation.
Additionally, Scheller is located not just in Atlanta, but specifically in Midtown Atlanta’s Technology Square. Our students benefit from an innovative ecosystem comprised of major global corporations, emerging tech companies, and many corporate innovation centers strategically placed to draw from Georgia Tech talent. This location positions students well with opportunities advantageous for networking. Among our extraordinary 12 practicum offerings, students are not only partnered with companies based outside of Atlanta (including Nike, IHG, Bank of America, Samsung, AT&T) but also work with neighboring businesses where there is opportunity to meet face to face regularly with executives of these organizations (including Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, The Home Depot, NCR).”
2.) Is There a “Perfect” Kind of Candidate That Fits the School’s MBA Mold?
“Actually, we prefer to look at how a candidate can break the mold. What is it about your experience, your background, your career goals that will bring a diverse perspective to our program? Sure, we aim to bring in students who can be successful in the classroom and who we can successfully serve in terms of career placement, but I feel lucky to get to recruit prospective candidates with different stories and unique individuals to Scheller. Given our small program size of around 160 students, we have a tight-knit, collaborative community that commands intentionality in finding bright candidates with good character, great personalities, open-mindedness, and willingness to help others. I’m certainly held accountable by our current students to uphold our values in the recruiting process, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that they have a vested interest in who they will work and play alongside!”
3.) What Would You Say Students Need to Prioritize the Most Before Applying?
“I think as much as anyone dreads standardized testing, applicants should know that your performance on the GRE or GMAT is the one application area you can impact the most. Transcripts from undergrad are set in stone, and your work experience is what it is. Intentionally preparing for the GRE or GMAT and planning to test multiple times will not only help you achieve better results for admission and funding but might also set you up for better job placement as some industries will evaluate these scores in recruiting. When considering full-time MBA programs, it’s best to approach the testing phase with determination instead of dread.”
4.) What Would You Say Applicants Need to Worry Less About Before Applying?
“My recommendation is to worry less about exact courses you will take and mapping your MBA experience out before you get here. Having some degree of clarity about career goals and how certain classes or experiences within a program will help you get there is great to highlight in essays and interviews, but you should also be open-minded. Curiosity is a very attractive quality when we’re evaluating candidates at Scheller; and, I’m sure many programs would say the same. You’ll receive wonderful advising when you get to our program pertaining to curriculum and career goals. We find our candidates who are flexible and join clubs or take classes in areas they didn’t know they’d be interested in have the best experiences and see the most success in the long run.”
5.) If You Had to Choose One Book for a Potential GT Scheller MBA to Read Before Enrolling, What Would It Be?
“I would recommend Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth. It would be beneficial both in applying to business schools and in preparing to start business school as it contends that the best thing to arm yourself with is resilience. The application process is a journey in finding the best fit for you and you might have disappointments and new information coming to you that could shift the course you’ve charted for yourself. Your “dream school” might change. And, your business school journey might bring big challenges early on as you navigate the transition back into the classroom, are tested in your quest for a summer internship, and enter a world in which feedback freely flows from your classmates, career advisors, faculty, and even acquaintances. Your MBA experience will stretch you, but the return on your hard work will come in the ability to receive coaching and the perseverance you’ll carry with you throughout your career.”
How To Break Into the Tech Industry: Intuit Inc.
Since 1983, Intuit Inc.—the Mountain View, CA software company that spearheaded the creation of products like TurboTax, Quickbooks, and Mint—has effectively changed the way the average person manages their money. And with more and more MBAs shedding their finance industry aspirations for a role in tech, a job with one of the most well-regarded tech organizations is looking especially ideal.
Why Should I Join Intuit Inc.?
Intuit Inc. was ranked 13th overall on Fortune’s 2017 list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” and 30th overall on Glassdoor‘s newest “Best Places to Work” list. The company takes a holistic approach to ensuring company well-being. Intuit has 24-hour onsite gyms, and even provides a certain amount of bicycles for employees who bike to work. Fortune listed job perks like telecommuting, compressed work weeks, college tuition reimbursement, daily free time to pursue other projects, and paid time off for volunteering.
Many of the positions at Intuit are, unsurprisingly, tech-based, so an MBA may not be as advantageous in getting an engineering position. However, according to PayScale data, MBAs are typically the highest earners at Intuit, with the average MBA earning nearly $125,000 per year.
What Internships are Available?
Intuit Inc. has a specific internship for MBAs: the MBA Intern Marketing Manager position. This internship is offered in Intuit’s California locations in Mountain View and San Diego, as well as in Plano, Texas. In this position, MBAs help the company gain insight into the needs of customers and the effectiveness of current marketing strategies, through research and testing. According to the company website, these interns also have the opportunity to partner with teams working in, “Product Management, Development, Finance and Care.” This is a paid summer internship, so students can cover the cost of living while observing and contributing to innovations at a leading software company.
Intuit is currently offering a variety of other internship positions that might be appropriate for MBAs, such as a Marketing Intern position in London. MBAs specializing in Supply Chain Management can apply to be Supply Chain Specialist Interns, and work closely with Intuit’s Supply Chain Finance team.
At the company, it is not uncommon for intern’s to parlay their positions into full-time jobs after graduation. The company’s website says that its internship program, “is truly an ‘early identification’ program, focusing on identifying and investing in high potential university students really to encourage them in their early careers and potentially to bring their talent back to Intuit after graduation.”
How to Get Hired at Intuit
In recent years, Intuit has moved from a traditional interview process, to an innovative method of vetting candidates that incorporates virtual reality. Their hiring program, Assessing for Awesome (A4A), requires that candidates: “Speak for five minutes about themselves; speak for 15 minutes about two or three projects of which they’re proud; prepare a 15-minute presentation on a case study or coding exercise; participate in a 25-minute question and answer period.” The interview is conducted by an advanced staff member who works closely with the position in question. The company uses virtual reality to allow candidates to demonstrate their skill sets.
Intuit Inc. hires graduates and interns from a number of the top-rated business programs in the country, including the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, Illinois, which brought in full-time employees and interns from the most recent graduating class. Some of the most highly-regarded MBA programs offer various tech industry advantages, including the recently introduced Tech MBA at NYU Stern, and the promising new Cornell Johnson Tech MBA, offered at the school’s new New York City campus.
For more information on which school’s provide the best opportunities to join the tech industry, head on over to our sister site Clear Admit, which recently took a look at programs from other established institutions like the UCLA Anderson School of Management and MIT Sloan.
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.
MIT Sloan Startup LaborX Bridging the Tech Job Divide
There’s a widening rift between employers that need high-end tech employees and a stagnant workforce. Dominican-born, Bronx-raised MIT Sloan MBA ’14 grad Yscaira Jimenez’s soon-to-be-launched LaborX can help wedge the divide.
Building a Career after Graduation: Columbia Business School
Huzzah! You made it through the b-school ringer! Now ready for the fun part? Finding a job!
