Black MBA - Winter 2008/2009 - (Page 50)

EDUCATION Job Market Forecast 2008 chose finance, making it the largest category of employment. At the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the highest salary for a 2008 grad, $300,000, also was in financial services. About 48 percent of Wharton grads in 2008 chose jobs in financial services – the largest category by far. “Part of the reason people choose finance is because it pays well,” says Chu, a Wharton grad himself who once worked in the financial industry. “And it’s an interesting job.” Lately, the industry has been interesting mostly in the Confucian sense. Still, experts expect many students to pursue careers in financial services despite the gloomy outlook. JOB HUNTING ADVICE Don’t round up the usual suspects. Students do not necessarily have to abandon financial services as a career option, experts say. Fischer, of UNC, advises students who want to pursue careers in finance to look for jobs in firms they may have overlooked in the past. “Look not only at thoroughbred names that everyone knows but also at smaller boutique companies,” he says. Kozicki, of UC-Irvine, also advises looking beyond traditional employment options. “We anticipate in the coming year that many graduates will find finance-related positions in industries/sectors outside investment banking and financial services,” he says. Look for opportunity in distress. Fischer advises students to let the changing landscape of finance guide their job search. Look for jobs that involve turning around or restructuring ailing companies, he says. “You need to fish where the fish are. For those who are interested in finance, there will be opportunity… Look for the kinds of firms, or groups within firms, that will be part of the solution… who’s going to be fixing what’s broken,” he says. Chu, of MBA Apply, offers similar advice. “The only area that might have seen growth is restructuring,” he says. With the financial services industry in the shape that it is, MBAs will be in demand at advisory firms that help companies get back on their feet – restructuring loans, for instance. But, Chu adds, “It’s not something that will employ hundreds of thousands of people. It’s a small sector.” Farm the fertile fields. Financial services may be hurting bad, but, in some industries, recruiting was actually up this year, according to the MBA Career Services Council’s survey. Twenty percent or more of the responding schools said that recruiting was up in consulting, consumer products, health care services and technology, and 15 to 20 percent of the responding schools said that recruiting was up in manufacturing and pharmaceutical/biotech. “It seems [these industries] may be affected less,” says Handler of the MBA Career Services Council. If there is any upside to all of the upheaval in recent months, it’s that it may shake some people from financerelated fields that may not be a good fit. Fischer says, “People who are going into finance today genuinely want to be there and aren’t just doing it because it’s a fad.” mba the MBA Career Center at The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California at Irvine (UCIrvine), though he says many are extending fewer offers this year. But he has seen a big change in financial services employment. “The recent financial crisis and subsequent consolidation in the financial services industry has made job prospects questionable for MBAs in this sector,” Kozicki says. “We anticipate that investment banking hires will be down considerably this year as the industry reorganizes.” The reason the downturn in financial services is hitting MBAs so hard is because finance-related jobs are the top choice among business school grads, according to surveys by the MBA Career Services Council and other organizations. B-school grads can earn lucrative salaries in finance, even at the outset. At the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, for example, in the class of 2008, the highest salary ($250,000) and the highest signing bonus ($40,000) went to grads who took jobs in financial services. About 52 percent of Booth School grads in Job Hunting Tips In a recession, how you look for a job is as important as where you look. Tom Kozicki, former president of the MBA Career Services Council and current executive director of the MBA Career Center at The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California at Irvine, offers this advice for job hunting in a recession: ■ Step up your job search activities and work at it every day. ■ Develop a marketing plan, network, outreach and execution. ■ Don’t rely on school resources only. Tap into personal and social networks as well. ■ Have a plan B ready and retool quickly. ■ Hope is not a strategy. Good planning and hard work are. ■ Don’t think you can wait out the recession. Those who do will be the last employed. ■ Companies continue to hire MBAs in recessionary times because MBA skills are important to helping companies get through tough economic times. ■ Stay positive and focused and don’t get caught up in all the negative press. ■ Expect rejection and don’t take it personally. ■ Remember that at the end of the day you only need one job. 50 BlackMBA • Winter 2008/2009 • www.nbmbaa.org http://www.nbmbaa.org

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Black MBA - Winter 2008/2009 Contents Preserving Dr. King’s Legacy: Harry E. Johnson is Six Years and $100 million into his First Fundraising Effort Online: www.nbmbaa.org and www.blackmbaonline.com Up Front: Inauguration Takes Over D.C. From the President: Connecting With the Basics The First 100 Days – Already in Progress Back to Basics: Finances 101 Is the Middle Class Disappearing? – Your View From Medals to MBA Conference Highlights Market Forces: The Job of Trying to Find a Job in a Tight Market Applying to an MBA Program?: Avoid Making these Five Critical Mistakes How They Did It: Catching up with the Winning Teams from NBMBAA’s 2008 National Case Competition Change It Up: If a New Job is at the Top of your New Year’s Resolutions, it’s Time for Careful Planning and Preparation Bull Market: Now is the Time to Take Advantage of Web 2.0 On the Move: Member News, Promotions and More Backstage at BET: NBMBAA’s Leadership Institute Takes on BET’s Case for Growth Toronto Rising: NBMBAA’s Toronto Chapter is on a Progressive Track, Building Strong Partnerships and Exposure as Membership Climbs NBMBAA® Chapters: Find Your Local Chapter Here Do What You Love: Turning Your Passion into a Successful Business Requires Patience, Planning and Plenty of Hard Work Above and Beyond: Meet the Winners of the 2008 Wells Fargo/NBMBAA Entrepreneurial Excellence Award Decorating by Design: Michelle Rider Leaves Corporate Life for Entrepreneurship Culture Shock: Black Museums Nationwide Appeal for Greater Support from the People whose Heritage they Strive to Preserve Gear Up for 2009: Books to Herald Success in the New Year Advertiser Index: Who’s Who in the Issue

Black MBA - Winter 2008/2009

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