As Graduation Comes and Goes, Student Hiring Outlook Begins to Brighten

May is graduation time for most full-time MBA and graduate students, and with it comes a whole new class onto the job market. At this time last year students were graduating into the worst job market in decades, and many were forced to settle for their Plan B job or even any job at all. Is this year shaping up to be an improvement or another year of disappointment? According to a recent survey of MBA employers conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), the job outlook for this year is better than the previous, yet still significantly below pre-recession levels.

Growth has been driven in part by increased hiring from overseas, particularly in the booming Asian markets. Asian companies had previously had limited success in recruiting among American MBAs because of their inability to offer the same financial incentives as American employers. That has been changing in recent years as salaries in emerging markets have increased significantly, resulting in greater numbers of MBAs leaving the country to pursue attractive opportunities abroad.

While the job market remains difficult, there are signs that employers are becoming increasing positive about the near-term outlook for the economy and are therefore showing greater willingness to hire. According to the GMAC survey, 55% of companies surveyed plan to hire MBAs this year, up 5% from 50% in 2009 yet still below the 2008 level of 59%. A similar trend applies for graduates of other specialized business masters programs. Hiring is expected to pick up the most this year in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries as well as in consulting. The bad news is that companies are being more selective in hiring, taking in on average less MBAs than they did last year.

Anecdotal evidence has supported the fact that hiring is up slightly over last year, but it also varies widely from school to school. The Wall Street Journal reports that at the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) and Northwestern (Kellogg), hiring has begun to pick up noticeably, while at other schools such as University of Texas (McCombs) and NYU (Stern), level remain similar to last year.

While in past years grads have relied mainly on their school's career center to open doors to opportunities, this year the job search has shifted from a school-led effort to a more individual search. As many employers have significantly cut back on their on-campus recruiting efforts as part of larger cost-cutting programs, students have recognized that developing contacts themselves and leveraging these contacts to find a suitable position is key to the search.

Graduate School - The New Prerequisite For Employment?

A number of years ago, when America was still depending on manufacturing, your high school diploma was your ticket to ride. When you graduated high school, you could find job that would support your family. As the country evolved into a service based economy, employers began desiring candidates with higher levels of education, and slowly but surely, it became hard to come across a very good paying work if you ever did not have a bachelor's degree. Nonetheless, in today's day and age, with a lot more men and women seeking bigger education than ever just before, even a bachelor's degree may not cut it. Much more and far more employers are enthusiastic about work applicants with a master's or bigger, producing graduate school practically important to locate employment. Thus, it really is essential to think about the gains and drawbacks of attending graduate school, in addition to the points one must look at when selecting a graduate school to attend.

First and foremost, one ought to note that attending graduate school might be tremendously beneficial. A lot of undergraduate programs today however place a high value on general education requirements. Whilst the hours you put in for your main will even now be substantial, practically a third from the time you spend in college, and in some situations, practically half of it, though be devoted to classes unrelated for your main. Graduate school has no such restrictions. For two to three years, you'll discover yourself taking classes that directly apply for your field of analyze, giving you the knowledge, and in a lot of situations, the hands on expertise, to be much more successful within your chosen line of perform. Moreover, most master's degrees will require managerial classes tailored for that specific field of analyze, generating you a far more qualified candidate for larger paying positions.

That doesn't mean that graduate school is constantly the greatest idea. For one issue, it may be incredibly high-priced, particularly for out-of-state students. If you've already taken out thousands of dollars in student loans for your undergraduate degree, as most persons in American do, you'll be adding anywhere from twenty to fifty thousand dollars of debt onto your tab, if not far more. Unless your graduate school training will prepare you to step into a incredibly high paying work, it may possibly not be worth the price tag. In addition, for some careers, expertise is however a lot more critical than a piece of paper saying you're actually smart. Though graduate school is needed for some, it really is certainly not a one-size-fits-all affair. It truly is critical to do your exploration just before you make a choice.

If you ever do decide that you happen to be enthusiastic about graduate school, you will discover a couple of steps it is possible to take to ensure that you're entering the plan that's proper for you. The first factor to think about is your understanding style. Are you someone who advantages from hours of reading and class discussion, or are you someone who prefers to learn by expertise? Some schools offer a excellent deal of study opportunities for their graduate students, and others don't. Your understanding style must be a factor within your choice. The other factor to contemplate is the length from the plan you happen to be entering. Some graduate schools provide master's degrees that should take a year to complete, and other degrees which will take practically four years to finish. You will find also accelerated programs at graduate schools where you are able to gain your master's AND your Ph.D. in one analyze plan. These are all items to think about when looking into graduate school.

Comparing and Evaluating Graduate Programs (III)

My first two postings on Comparing and Evaluating Graduate Programs discussed the importance of gathering information about admissions data, faculty size, requirements and graduate level courses in the programs that you are comparing, as well as funding, teaching, time-to degree, health insurance and career support. This article will continue to explore what you need to know to make informed decisions about which schools to apply to, and finally, which offer you accept.

In major metropolitan areas graduate student housing may not be a critical concern because there is an ample [sometimes overpriced] housing stock in the surrounding urban area, but in more rural communities housing options may be limited and you may need to commute, support a car, and pay for parking. Does your school offer married student housing? Four or five years of rent controlled graduate housing [with free Internet and electricity and heat, all of which may be part of the deal] is certainly worth asking about.

Summer classes serve two functions: if your graduate program 'exists' during the summer you may be able to take graduate level courses and make progress toward your degree; you may also be able to land a course or two as an instructor to earn extra money - this is a consideration for students in the humanities and social sciences who are usually not funded during the summer. Larger schools may offer these summer opportunities and there is no harm in asking about them so that you can plan ahead.

Graduate school applications, especially if you apply to several schools, can get expensive, so check to see if you are eligible for any kind of fee waiver [McNair scholar, alumni, minority, etc.].

Disability accommodations may be crucial for your continued education; if you had accommodation during college and want or need to continue it during graduate school you need to check on how to apply for one and whether you will need to update a diagnosis because in some cases your accommodation might need to be verified by a recent diagnosis. You are better served knowing the answer to questions like this before you arrive on campus and classes begin, instead of waiting until you have no time and other obligations once school is underway.

Campus visits either before or after you are accepted into a program are important and while they may be expensive, they are worth making. Visiting before you have applied, has several advantages: 1) you may discover that you hate the campus, the town and the program [or conversely that you love them]; 2) you can meet faculty, explore facilities and have a chance to make a good impression and sell yourself as a desirable candidate. If you visit after you are accepted, and you have more than one acceptance in hand, you can decide whether you [and your spouse?] can spend the next 'n' years at this school. Post-acceptance visits may sometimes be underwritten or subsidized by a school, so do not hesitate to ask for travel money. Schools sometimes have graduate student open houses with tours, dinners and presentations about the campus - ask if they are sponsoring such an event. The cost of a weekend trip from California to New York may be prohibitive, but if you have been accepted to a school in New York and one in Philadelphia, for example, see if you can schedule them for the same weekend, get some funding from each school and combine the funding to make the trip doubly informative and half as expensive...if you can.

Meeting with students at a school may be as important as meeting with the faculty. They will probably be candid and forthcoming with information about the program, so ask and ask and ask [that means ask more than one student the same questions]. What is advising/mentoring like in the program...is there a congenial social environment within the program [competitive or not]...do graduate students serve on committees in the program [how else will you be trained to be a faculty member someday if not through close mentoring and meaningful apprentice programs?], are classes stimulating, is the library well stocked and are the librarians helpful? This is just a short list of what you can inquire about.

If you are assiduous in gathering this kind of information your decision about the program you attend, especially if you don't have many choices at the end of the day, will be made in a more comfortable and satisfying way.

Milton Kornfeld, Ph.D.