MBA Salaries

Found this article/podcast, which focuses on MBA compensation and the state of the MBA job market. The focus is mainly on compensation for consulting/i-banking jobs, so if that is not your focus you might want to skip this article. One interesting tid-bit is at the end of the article when it is mentioned that the school you attend can greatly effect your compensation during year 1. Wharton, Harvard and Tuck were mentioned as the top 3 schools for high Wall Street Salaries.

Nothing earth shattering here, but still a good read/listen. Just a little something to start Tuesday off right….

Will Yu be my mentor?

Scanning the news for some MBA goodies and came across this article about a JPM associate, Yu Tian, who is quitting and going to get his MBA. The article is interesting enough, but what caught my eye was his need for a mentor. That got me thinking about my situation and how a mentor might be what I need. There are many questions I have about my career and I believe I would truly benefit from the relationship and guidance that a mentor would provide. How does one go about obtaining a mentor (Mentor Store?) and who is qualified to be a mentor? Those are the two main questions that I have….I am going to do some digging and speak to a few people and see where I get with that. I figured I would open up the question to you guys…anybody have a mentor, know a mentor, or just think a Mentor Store would be a great idea? Let hear it…Happy Monday, isn’t work great! (hopefully obvious sarcasm)

MBAs getting creative – with their career paths

This article talks about how in this economy 80-85% of MIT Sloan students currently have a job. The problem with that statement is that many have had to re-think their career choices and choose a different line of work. The positive to come out of this crisis is that many are choosing to go into rewarding professions that they might never have considered during the days of fat bonuses and endless employment on Wall Street.

I love the markets, and Wall Street is my dream. I REALLY don’t want to do anything else, even if the pay isn’t what it once was. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t find a job there. That is certainly something that I am going to have to think about before applying because the chances of having to drastically change careers is very real. What is your back-up plan? Have you given any thought to it, or just denied the possibility that you might need to change jobs?

Feelings about the economy and B-School

I found this article on Stacy Blackman’s blog and was pretty interested by its findings. In summary, the article says that most MBA applicants are gainfully employed and are pretty optimistic about the future of the economy. This is a far cry from the stories in Fortune or Businessweek about how B-School applications are up because of the bad economy and how people are using an MBA as a shelter from the economic storm. If this study is representative and students are choosing an MBA for reasons other than the bad economy there would need to be another explanation as to why applications are surging during this downturn. Could it be that there are just more people who are of age to apply to B-School? The “echo” of the Baby Boomer generation is now B-School age, and the increase in applications could be an effect of this “echo.” Just a thought of mine…no evidence to back that up, but it seems like a plausible explanation. Anyone have any other theories? Think this study is a load of crap? Don’t really care?

Quote of the day and my inner most fears

“Growth means change and change involves risk, stepping from the known to the unknown”

-Unknown Author

This quote is from the book “The Shack” and I was struck at how applicable it was to B-School. The point of attending school is to grow. Growth can come in the form of increased responsibility, leadership abilities, new job titles, or simply a larger salary. This growth involves significant risks, such as loss of income for 2 years, the possibility of not finding a job that pays well enough to make the decision a smart one, and the very real possibility of not finding a job at all.

The unknown can instill fear within people and it can be very hard to deal with. From the early stages of childhood,  the dark is scary because it represents the unknown in life. Is there a monster under the bed, in the closet, or right behind me? This fear extends into adulthood, but manifests itself in different ways.

I can say that I am pretty scared sometimes when thinking about everything that is ahead of me. The fear of rejection is first and foremost, because it would be the first fear I would have to deal with. What if no schools accept me, or the ones I really want to go to don’t. The fear of leaving a job is second on the list. Am I crazy? Why would I leave a well paying job in this economy to try something that isn’t a sure thing? The last fear is of competition. If I do manage to get into a top B-School, how am I ever going to compete with my classmates? I envision everyone who is accepted to B-school as an investment banker/non-profit worker/do-gooder with a degree from a top university and list of ECs that rival that length of the Declaration of Independence. How am I supposed to compete with all these people?

Dealing with these fears can be pretty hard, but I have found that practical aloofness helps me the best. I know that odds of getting into a top school are slim, even for a great candidate, so my hopes are not too high, but I also have confidence that I can do this despite all the odds. Call it denial, or generally aloof, but it seems to work for me.

Anyone else scared when they think of B-School? How do you convince yourself to push through it (curling up into a ball and crying is an acceptable answer)? Have a different interpretation of the quote? Think I am a moron? Wish I stopped with the whole question thing a while ago? Happy hump day! Back with more later.

MBA Jobs (apparently hard to find one these days)

Businessweek has another depressing article on the state of the MBA job market and how the traditional lines of networking are breaking down because everyone is too concerned about their own job, to help others find one. The article breaks down how the job market is affecting each participant from first years, to second years, to even alumni. Times like these I am reminded of the Frank Sinatra song  High Hopes where the ant moves a rubber tree plant and a ram takes down a dam…gotta conjure up your inner ant or ram in a time like this.

Lyrics to follow:

Next time your found, with your chin on the ground
There a lot to be learned, so look around

Just what makes that little old ant
Think hell move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, cant
Move a rubber tree plant

But hes got high hopes, hes got high hopes
Hes got high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your gettin low
stead of lettin go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant

When troubles call, and your backs to the wall
There a lot to be learned, that wall could fall

Once there was a silly old ram
Thought hed punch a hole in a dam
No one could make that ram, scram
He kept buttin that dam

cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes

So any time your feelin bad
stead of feelin sad
Just remember that ram
Oops there goes a billion kilowatt dam

All problems just a toy balloon
Theyll be bursted soon
Theyre just bound to go pop
Oops there goes another problem kerplop

Good luck with that…

An MBA graduate takes out an ad with his last $1,000 (or so), advertising himself to investment firms. Read about it here.

MBA Jobs, the waiting game

Business Week has this article which pretty much states that MBA who have jobs are being asked to pushed their start dates back by 3-6 months. This leaves the graduates with a nice dilemma because the gap in income leaves them high and dry. Some with job offers have begun looking for new jobs secretly, even though this is pretty looked down upon.

My view on this is that MBAs should be looking for new jobs, if their start date has been pushed back. If the company has not given you a signing bonus, I believe that MBAs are well within their rights to look for something new. If a company is not willing to invest in you now, then you shouldn’t be beholden to them.

All of this changes if the company has given you a signing bonus, or a relocation bonus because then you are receiving compensation for a future promise of work. It would be in poor taste for a person to accept a signing bonus and still continue to look for jobs. Temporary jobs would be fine as a way to plug the income gap until the new start date rolls around.