Foster tops elite business schools for MBA tech recruitment
The Foster School of Business is the only top 25 business school to send more than half (58%) of its MBAs into the tech sector according to Poets & Quants study of technology firms’ top business schools for recruiting MBA talent. Technology companies including Amazon, Concur, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, T-Mobile, and Zillow hired the majority of 2017 Foster graduates at a median salary of $120,408. Poets & Quants analysis shows that Foster MBAs working in technology earned more than their peers from Yale, NYU, Columbia, Cornell, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, and Carnegie Mellon.
A model for moving into the digital, high-tech space
“If any business school can be considered a model for moving adroitly in the digital, high-tech space, it’s Washington Foster, which sends by far the highest percentage of MBAs into the industry of all the top B-schools, in the U.S. and globally,” writes Marc Ethier in Poets & Quants. In his article, Tech’s Appetite for MBA Graduates Explodes, Ethier quantified the growth in technology recruitment demand and salaries at Foster and other elite business schools. According to Poets & Quants assessment, tech MBAs from 18 of the top 25 schools saw an average median salary increase of $9,901 between 2013 and 2017. In that same timeframe, Foster alumni median salaries increased $17,686.
Relationships and relevance are the not-so-secret sauce
What drives the demand for Foster MBAs in the technology sector? According to Naomi Sanchez, assistant dean for MBA career management and corporate recruiting, it begins by building strong relationships with recruiters and influential alumni. “A lot of the alumni that speak at the professional development week are coming from the tech companies where the school has now built up an alumni base that is…at director and VP and CFO and CEO levels” Sanchez explains. In addition to a highly networked alumni community, she says her team works to maintain close, “high-touch” relationships with the recruiting teams at tech firms. Recruiters responded to the Businessweek 2017 Best Business Schools Rankings by rating Foster #11 among U.S. business schools.
To prepare Foster MBAs for success in the sector, the Foster MBA curriculum emphasizes recent technology innovations in research, teaching and practice. Faculty and alumni professionals share their expertise in technology topics, from e-commerce to machine learning and artificial intelligence; equipping graduates with a strategic view of technology’s role in business.
Technology jobs now attract more MBA candidates than any other career choice writes RelishCareers, which reviewed the priorities of more than 5,000 aspiring MBA applicants. In the same study, pre-applicants cited Washington and Seattle among their top five preferred destinations.
Foster #1 in U.S. for job placement
Across industries, the Foster School is #1 in Businessweek’s 2017 Best Business Schools Ranking for job placement, with 98% of MBAs employed within three months of graduation. According to U.S. News & World Report, Foster graduates earned an average salary and bonus of $133,299 across all industries and carried very low debt. The majority of 2017 graduates accepted positions in technology, consulting, healthcare, and financial services sectors, with 75% receiving a signing bonus averaging $32,508.
| Industry | Percentage | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | 23% | $129,017 |
| Financial Services | 6% | $123,000 |
| Pharm / Biotech / Healthcare Products | 6% | $96,400 |
| Technology | 58% | $120,408 |
Source: Foster School MBA Career Management
Foster consulting graduates also in high demand
Graduating MBAs at Foster were also recruited by top consulting firms according to the Poets & Quants article Consulting Industry’s Top Feeder B-Schools. Nearly a quarter—23% of the Foster MBA class, accepted positions at firms such as Accenture, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte Consulting, Hitachi Consulting, KPMG, McKinsey & Company, and Point B—a percentage higher than Stanford, Berkeley and UCLA.
A free tool for MBA applicants to compare MBA career and ranking results
To help MBA applicants assess U.S. business schools results in job placement, average salary, employer opinion, ROI, low average debt, research and more, the Foster School created the free MBA Rankings Calculator. MBA candidates can generate a ranking of their top 30 business schools based on their own priorities, using the latest data licensed from U.S. News & World Report, Businessweek, The Financial Times, and Forbes.
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