More MBAS bank on jobs in resources
Banking drought has grads seeking work in industrial sectors
The volatility of financial markets is forcing the latest generation of MBA students to rethink their career plans. Traditionally, the MBA has paved the way for graduates to enter high-paying jobs in the banking industry. But this is changing, as business schools adapt to the new reality.
Investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, are still among the most attractive employers for MBA students at U.S. business schools, according to a recent survey by Universum, a branding consultancy. With a tight hiring market in financial services, many of the schools are encouraging students to look for career opportunities beyond the banks.
“A fog has descended across Wall Street,” says Jack Oakes, assistant dean for career development at the University of Virginia’s Darden School. “So it is great to see industrial companies raising their game and increasing their MBA hiring.”
The likes of Caterpillar, Boeing, 3M and Dupont are stepping up their pursuit of MBA students at Darden, suggesting that job prospects might be better with companies that make things, not trade esoteric financial derivatives.
At HEC Paris in France, trendy media companies such as Google, Amazon and, most recently, Facebook, have also surged in popularity for post-mba employment, while consultancy firms and luxury brands such as Dior and Cartier are optimistic about 2012 hiring levels. But the school reports the energy sector is the most vibrant.
This is good news for Canadian business schools and their graduates.
Marie-jose Beaudin, director of careers services at Mcgill’s Desautels Faculty of Management, is seeing a growing interest in the energy sector, and the “dirty” industries of metals and mining.
Beaudin believes students see these sectors as more stable than sectors such as finance. She says they also see them as more genuinely global, as key jobs in other industries are still concentrated in the U.S. or Western Europe.
Says Stephanie Shaw, a Mcgill MBA of 2010, now a human resources business partner at Husky Energy in Calgary.
“When other industries are scaling back, natural resource industries are focused on growth because of increased global demand; it’s a commodity that the world needs to run itself. This offers both stability and increased opportunity for employees.”
Shaw feels the energy sector offers an international diversity of backgrounds and opportunity for growth missing in the financial sector.
“In banking, you would not have the opportunity to work with such a wide mix of professions, and, from an employee standpoint, the roles are big.
“As a finance professional in the energy sector, for example, you will come across larger trade volumes and larger monetary deals than you might in other industries.” So how are business schools responding to this shift in demand? The Schulich School of Business at York University announced last November the launch of an MBA specialization in the mining industry. Toronto makes a natural home for the program, given that 80 per cent of the world’s mining equity financings have been done on the Toronto exchange. Richard Ross, former CEO of Inmet mining, heads up the mining specialization at Schulich. He explains that the course is a result of analysis by the Canadian Institute of Mining that identified the sectors need to develop the next generation of leaders. “Fifteen years ago, CEOS came up from the technical side of the business. But industry analysts feel the need for good strategists focused on value creation, mergers and international trade. They need skills for a truly global market, and MBA students who have already relocated for their studies are able to show that they are flexible to work in far-flung corners of the world.” Ross feels that business schools, such as his, are attracting a new breed of students who want to tackle issues of the environment and sustainability, to move the mining industry away from its “dirty” reputation. “The single-most important factor moving forward is the ability to get the corporate social responsibility issue right, and Schulich is highly rated for integrating sustainability into the curriculum. What better way can we affect change than from the inside?”
How long will the ascendancy of the less glamorous jobs last?
Jack Oakes at Darden acknowledges that plenty of students will still look to land a job in financial services, particularly when the markets bounce back.
But banks will face stiffer competition for top talent from industry, which is doing a much better job of marketing itself.
Many sectors supply graduates the chance to expand their international horizons, whether to meet significant demand in Latin America, the Gulf States or Asia.
“We used to tell people to go west in search of opportunity,” says Oakes.
“Today we add that they shouldn’t stop in Vancouver.”