More companies are hiring MBAs. According to GMAC data, two-thirds of global companies across the Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the US have positions that are set for expansion and growth.
And 88% of the technology companies that GMAC surveyed said they planned on hiring MBA graduates in 2017. Amazon, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have grown at such an unprecedented rate that it’s no surprise hiring is exploding in this sphere.
Yasmina Mallam-Hassam, careers director at HEC Paris, says that the biggest jump the school has seen in terms of MBA students’ career destinations is in tech—up to 19% of the MBA class.
She says that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are among the most attractive top recruiters at the school. “What is interesting though,” she adds, “is the number of innovative tech startups in a variety of industries, such as Deliveroo, Taboola, and PayPal, that have either come onto campus or have recruited HEC Paris MBAs.”
Tech transverses the entire business landscape. Graduates have also secured tech positions at companies such as Renault, Nissan, Schneider Electric, and Johnson & Johnson.
As these companies expand and grow, becoming ever more global, there is a requirement for internationally-savvy employees. The HEC Paris MBA is made up of 92% international students, represented by 55 nationalities. Teamwork and communication skills—the two most sought-after skills by employers according to the GMAC report—are built across borders, as students learn to meander different cultures, industries, and personalities.
This makes for a conveyor belt of globally-ready employees. Indeed, 51% of HEC Paris MBA candidates find work outside of their home country, joining the 55% of students who changed job location after graduation. “Developing markets are becoming more attractive,” Yasmina adds. “For example, the Latin American placement has grown by 2%, and Africa by 3%.”
Across the entire cohort, 93% of graduates secure work within three months of finishing their MBA at HEC Paris.
“The emergence of sustainability and digital are two of the core career trends we have seen,” Yasmina continues. “As a career center, we often get asked about areas such as fintech, healthtech, and impact careers, showing that participants want to contribute to the current challenges that are shaping the business world.”
The HEC Paris Career Center is the engine that drives the school’s MBAs towards their goals. “We work with participants from the very first days of the program to try and determine whether they have a defined career path or not,” Yasmina explains.
“We offer a rigorous curriculum with three steps—‘know yourself’, ‘know the market’, and ‘match yourself to the market’,” she adds. That enables candidates who are sitting on the fence to understand their career motivations, interests, and skills—as well as which sector and companies are attractive to them.
The Career Center develops a student’s ability to pitch themselves, network, and augment their interviewing skills. Career fairs, company presentations, and sector-based events throughout the MBA help build their market knowledge.
Yasmina admits that with the market developing and changing so rapidly, predicting future MBA career trends is complicated.
She asserts that geographically, as the region’s digital and financial infrastructure matures, HEC Paris sees Africa as a burgeoning region for MBAs.
“Additionally, on the digital side,” she adds, “the need to manage and optimize value from data will continue to grow, so this will lead to more roles in the analytics space—cybersecurity will also enter as a potential career area.
“Traditional MBA roles in finance could possibly diminish as digital continues to impose itself,” she concludes, “so we will start to see areas such as cryptocurrencies and digital banking also yielding options for MBA participants in the finance and digital space.”
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