Program News
Job Fairs: Adapting to the Recruiting Market
At the Moore School, the Graduate Career Management Office encourages graduate students to be
flexible and receptive to market changes in regards to their careers. Those willing and able to
adapt and embrace alternative paths and processes have the greatest opportunity for success. "We
make it clear that rigidity in today's global market can be a career killer," says Graduate Career
Management Director
Jane Willis. "Likewise, the school has had to respond to
profound market changes in the MBA placement arena by adapting to the new way employers recruit MBA
talent."
The landscape of MBA recruiting changed dramatically after 9/11. Employers who historically hired legions of MBA graduates began re-evaluating their processes and long-term needs. Multinational firms began carefully re-assessing where they were going to recruit. In general, every company cut back on the number of schools they visited and the number of new MBA hires.
In response, the Graduate Career Management Office expanded its efforts to market the school and the students to potential employers. The Moore School has increased the visibility of the school and its students by attending major job fairs each fall. These fairs have been around for many years, but only recently have they become the primary recruiting mechanism for many large, multinational firms. In most cases, these fairs have become employer's only mode of interviewing students from schools not on their "top tier" list. So the staff goes prepared to market the program and students with a media packet complete with a CD containing students' resumes and an electric brochure.
Organizations
like the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) and the Black MBA Association host these annual
conferences/fairs, which were originally designed to attract a minority population. Today, MBA
candidates of all races attend these fairs because they are excellent opportunities for them to
market their unique skill sets, such as foreign language skills and international experience. These
venues are ideal for Moore School IMBA candidates.
As early as 2003 the Graduate Career Management Office has encouraged students to attend these fairs. Since 2004, the career management staff has attended several of them each fall to speak one-on-one with employers. Each year, student participation has grown and in the fall of 2006, close to 70 percent of the graduating IMBA class attended at least one major, national job fair.
The outcomes are notable and the Moore School is making a name for itself with the corporate participants. In October 2006, 61 students traveled with the career management staff to the NSHMBA conference and job fair held in Cincinnati, Ohio. A full 1/3 of students who attended NSHMBA received job offers attributable to the contacts and interviews they made there. More than one half landed a second-round interview also directly from that event. Overall, Moore School students participated in more than 130 separate interviews with 50+ global employers, including 3M, Dell Inc., IBM, E.& J. Gallo Winery, Eaton Corp., General Electric, P&G, Nike, Campbell's, Kraft Foods, Northwest Airlines, General Mills and Chevron.
We expect these fairs to be a primary component of the Graduate Career Management Office strategy in the future, but we will certainly reassess annually to monitor market trends" says Dr. Marty Roth, Executive Director of the International MBA Program. "To ensure solid attendance, the school helps reduce the financial burden on the students by offering them up to a $300 travel stipend for approved events."
"Our goal," adds Willis, "is to place our students in front of employers and to market what we believe to be the best international MBA program out there. We will also continue to work to have the best prepared, polished and professional students employers are likely to encounter. Based on the 2006 final placement numbers (73 percent placed at graduation, 88 percent placed within 90 days of graduation) the formula appears to be working."
The landscape of MBA recruiting changed dramatically after 9/11. Employers who historically hired legions of MBA graduates began re-evaluating their processes and long-term needs. Multinational firms began carefully re-assessing where they were going to recruit. In general, every company cut back on the number of schools they visited and the number of new MBA hires.
In response, the Graduate Career Management Office expanded its efforts to market the school and the students to potential employers. The Moore School has increased the visibility of the school and its students by attending major job fairs each fall. These fairs have been around for many years, but only recently have they become the primary recruiting mechanism for many large, multinational firms. In most cases, these fairs have become employer's only mode of interviewing students from schools not on their "top tier" list. So the staff goes prepared to market the program and students with a media packet complete with a CD containing students' resumes and an electric brochure.
Organizations
like the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) and the Black MBA Association host these annual
conferences/fairs, which were originally designed to attract a minority population. Today, MBA
candidates of all races attend these fairs because they are excellent opportunities for them to
market their unique skill sets, such as foreign language skills and international experience. These
venues are ideal for Moore School IMBA candidates.
As early as 2003 the Graduate Career Management Office has encouraged students to attend these fairs. Since 2004, the career management staff has attended several of them each fall to speak one-on-one with employers. Each year, student participation has grown and in the fall of 2006, close to 70 percent of the graduating IMBA class attended at least one major, national job fair.
The outcomes are notable and the Moore School is making a name for itself with the corporate participants. In October 2006, 61 students traveled with the career management staff to the NSHMBA conference and job fair held in Cincinnati, Ohio. A full 1/3 of students who attended NSHMBA received job offers attributable to the contacts and interviews they made there. More than one half landed a second-round interview also directly from that event. Overall, Moore School students participated in more than 130 separate interviews with 50+ global employers, including 3M, Dell Inc., IBM, E.& J. Gallo Winery, Eaton Corp., General Electric, P&G, Nike, Campbell's, Kraft Foods, Northwest Airlines, General Mills and Chevron.
We expect these fairs to be a primary component of the Graduate Career Management Office strategy in the future, but we will certainly reassess annually to monitor market trends" says Dr. Marty Roth, Executive Director of the International MBA Program. "To ensure solid attendance, the school helps reduce the financial burden on the students by offering them up to a $300 travel stipend for approved events."
"Our goal," adds Willis, "is to place our students in front of employers and to market what we believe to be the best international MBA program out there. We will also continue to work to have the best prepared, polished and professional students employers are likely to encounter. Based on the 2006 final placement numbers (73 percent placed at graduation, 88 percent placed within 90 days of graduation) the formula appears to be working."