MBAs in the Workplace

What Employers are Looking for in MBA Job Candidates
So you’ve finished graduate school and you have your MBA...now what? Like your fellow graduates, you are on your way to the top of the business world. And while your individual job interests and desired career path may vary from your former classmates, most of you will be starting your new post-academic lives in much the same way...the interview.

Just by having your MBA, you have made yourself a very attractive candidate for potential employers. Your degree represents hard work and dedication, and embodies a set of skills that employers would love to add to their workplaces.

A 2004 study conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reports that, regardless of the industry, employers are attracted to an MBA graduate’s ability to think both analytically and strategically. Other attractive skills include strong leadership, quantitative abilities and developed oral communication skills.

So what, then, are employers looking for when they interview MBA graduates?

More than anything else, the GMAC study found that employers are looking for candidates with strong communication and interpersonal skills. Ranking second and third on employers’ wish lists were applicants’ proven abilities to perform and whether or not they would be good cultural fits with the company.

The 10 most important characteristics looked for in MBA graduates by employers are as follows:

Corporate Reimbursement and Sponsorship Programs
In addition to recruiting and hiring new MBA graduates, many companies that realize the value of having MBAs on staff offer corporate reimbursement or sponsorship programs to develop MBA talent from within the company.

By investing in the business education of their existing staff, these companies are able to see a return that goes beyond mere dollars and cents.

According to a 2005 survey of corporate recruiters conducted by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), only 29 percent of recruiters reported that their companies offered no form of MBA reimbursement or sponsorship.

While the reasons for sponsoring an employee’s MBA are numerous, employers reported that they most wanted their employees to improve their leadership and management skills, and also to make the employee increasingly promotable.