Jun 14, 2010
MBAs want international careers, but do not prioritise this when looking for employers
MBAs want international careers, but do not prioritise this when looking for employers
Based on 7,028 employer evaluations, reflecting the opinions of 2,009 students, Universum releases the European MBA Ideal Employer rankings. The data highlights the differences between Europe’s MBA and undergraduate/Master’s students.
Changes in career goals
MBAs shake-up 2010’s top four career goals: international career is now the most important, climbing from fourth place. MBA’s choices of employers, however, have not evolved to reflect this. MBA’s associate international travel most with Bain & Company, Booz & Company and Oliver Wyman, respectively. These employers do not feature in MBA’s top five Ideal employers: Booz & Company is ranked 26, while Oliver Wyman is at 68. Interestingly, an international career is less important for undergraduate/Master’s students in Europe, falling to the sixth most important career goal for this group.
To be competitively or intellectually challenged and to be a leader or manager of people have both dropped in importance from one to two and two to four respectively. Work-life balance holds steady as the third most important career goal. This is in stark contrast to Europe’s undergraduate/Master’s who have this as their top career goal.
Top industries and climbers
Management consulting remains the top industry for MBAs to work in, with almost 30 per cent of this year’s respondents hoping to find a post-MBA job within this industry. Unsurprisingly, McKinsey & Company is the most popular employer for this talent group, followed in third by The Boston Consulting Group. Most industries have remained consistent in popularity with the exception of retail/fashion/apparel which has increased to the seventh most popular industry from 15 in 2009. Conversely, IT consulting (one of the most popular industries for undergraduate/Master’s students) has continued to fall to 15, from 13 in 2009 and eight in 2008.
The biggest climber is Heineken, climbing 24 places from 76 to 52. General Electric (GE) dropped the most from 12 to 31. Some of this can be explained by its challenge to attract female MBA talent. GE is ranked tenth by men, but only 51 by women. Other employers which struggle to attract women are EADS (44 place difference) and Oracle (43 place difference).
Conversely, American Express (51 place difference), Danone (50 place difference) and Kraft Foods (49 place difference) all struggle to attract male MBAs – this can be a significant issue as more men study MBA’s than women, indicating that they appeal to a significantly smaller MBA talent group
Those that have the balance and appeal equally to both genders are Apple, Deutsche Bank and ABB.
Remuneration
The most important form of remuneration for MBA’s is a good reference for future career, reflecting that MBA students are career focused and interested in long-term progression. Leadership opportunities are second in importance followed by competitive base salary. MBA expectations in this area have dropped this year, with an expected annual salary now at 54,809 Euros (78‘320 CHF) compared to 62,446 Euros (89‘234 CHF) in 2009. An increase in the number of MBA students enrolling during the recession and consequently an increase in graduates this year may contribute to lower expectations.
About the Universum European MBA Survey 2010
- Field period: October 29th 2009 to April 23rd 2010
- Number of respondents: 2,009
- Number of evaluations: 7,028
- Respondents from 75 schools, 30 of which are the top MBA schools
European MBA Ideal Employer Rankings 2010, under: http://www.universumglobal.com/IDEAL-Employer-Rankings/The-European-MBA-Survey
