MBA programs have long promised to open new opportunities for workers, setting them on the fast track to career success. The job titles with the most auspicious prospects for graduates change over time, however.
Data from surveys and job advertisements and advice from employment experts point to this year’s hottest jobs for MBA graduates.
Shifting Industries and Roles
The worlds of finance and consulting used to draw MBA graduates in droves. But these days, students leaving school with master’s degrees in business administration are finding jobs elsewhere.
They are more likely than earlier alumni to work in the products and services industry and the technology sector, according to the B-School Alumni Employment Report Alumni Perspectives Survey of 2018. The study, published by the nonprofit Graduate Management Admission Council, collected data from 10,882 alumni from 274 institutions.
Among respondents who got their degrees from 2016 to 2017, 23 percent work for products and services companies, 18 percent work in the technology sector, 13 percent work for finance and accounting firms and 12 percent work for consulting companies.
“The big change in the last couple years has been the rise of top-tier candidates going to technology firms, heading out west to Silicon Valley,” says Andy Challenger, vice president of national career transition firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The specific roles MBA graduates take are shifting, too, the study shows. Recent alumni are increasingly filling roles in marketing and sales (20 percent) and operations and logistics (13 percent). Although finance and accounting (20 percent) and general management (18 percent) positions still account for large shares of new graduates, their popularity has fallen.
[See: Explore the 2019 Best Business Schools.]
Job Ads Show Concentrated Demand
Most new graduates from MBA programs find mid-level positions, while smaller numbers obtain senior- and executive-level jobs, according to the B-School Alumni Employment Report. Job advertisements for these mid-level roles offer insight about where there’s demand for workers graduating with MBA degrees.
In 2017, jobs that required applicants to possess MBAs frequently had titles related to operations, analytics and marketing, according to data from job-search website ZipRecruiter.
“Operations analyst” was the third-most frequently posted job title among positions requiring an MBA. Other similar popular titles included “operations officer” and “business operations analyst.” These jobs focus on studying logistics and improving processes.
“Analytics manager” was the 11th-most frequently posted job title in the category. Other top related titles included “analytics associate” and “analytics lead.” Workers in these positions sort through data to find meaningful patterns.
Two of the 15 most-frequently posted job titles in the category were “chief marketing officer” and “marketing executive.” Although those high-level roles may be out of reach for many new MBA graduates, their presence on the list suggests that marketing is a promising field.
Indeed, companies are increasingly looking to fill marketing and technology positions with employees who have MBAs, says Dawn Fay, district president for Robert Half human resource consulting firm in New York City: “I had not seen it in those sectors as much as I do now.”
[See: 25 Best Jobs That Pay $100K.]
Hot Jobs for MBA Graduates
So which positions from the U.S. News Best Jobs of 2018 rankings should new MBA graduates look for this year? Applying for the following jobs, or positions with similar titles and duties, may yield good results, especially in the industries of technology and products and services:
Median salary: $99,310 Unemployment rate: 1.7 percent
Employees who work under this broad umbrella perform a variety of duties to help companies meet their goals. They may deal with hiring, budgeting or marketing.
Median salary: $131,180 Unemployment rate: 2.8 percent
Marketing managers assess pricing and consumer demand to figure out how, where and when to sell products and services.
[See: The 25 Best Jobs of 2018.]
Median salary: $79,200 Unemployment rate: 3.3 percent
These workers strive to optimize logistics for companies. They use statistics and modeling to figure out the best ways to design and run processes.
Median salary: $81,330 Unemployment rate: 3.9 percent
These consultants help companies increase efficiency and profits. This job title was the sixth-most frequently posted job title requiring an MBA in 2017, according to ZipRecruiter.
Analytics Roles and Jobs in Big Data
Big data is a relatively new field, and there isn’t much reliable government information yet about the salaries and employment levels of its workers. But as the ZipRecruiter advertisements show, companies are hungry for more people to work in “analytics” departments, discerning patterns from data. These jobs may overlap with those of data scientists or statisticians.
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Hot Jobs for MBA Grads originally appeared on usnews.com
