What An MBA Is Worth: By The Numbers - Poets&Quants

What An MBA Is Worth: By the Numbers

75% of MBA graduates switch careers and, in turn, double their salary.

That was one finding from the Wall Street Journal, which recently partnered with Times Higher Education to survey nearly 7,000 alumni who earned an MBA between 2012 and 2015. The motivation: collect data on salary history and career switching opportunities.

According to the study, MBAs who graduated from schools such as Yale School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University reported making tens of thousands of dollars a year more after obtaining their MBAs.

Kelsey Gee, a writer at Wall Street Journal, says the study highlights an important note: career-switchers can reap substantial financial rewards from getting an MBA.

“The results show that the credential sought-after by generations of bankers and consultants still helps those graduates get ahead at work,” Gee writes. “The median salary for consultants who returned to professional services firms like McKinsey Co. or Deloitte Touche LLP after getting an M.B.A. was $162,000 a year, the highest pay in any sector, and a boost of $82,000 annually. Alumni surveyed in finance and tech jobs tied for second-highest pay, making $150,000 if they also worked in those sectors before business school.”

Pay Check By Industry

Among those who stay in the same field after earning an MBA, consultants tend to earn the most, according to the study.

Those in the healthcare sector tend to see the biggest increase in their pay following an MBA.

A Gender Pay Gap

What’s most surprising about the data is the pay gap between male and female MBAs.

“The median salary of women who worked full-time before entering business school was $63,000 a year to men’s median salary of $67,000, or 94 cents on the dollar,” Gee writes. “Both men and women reported more than doubling their earnings after graduation. In their post-M.B.A. careers, the median of those women’s earnings was $130,000 annually and men’s was $140,000.”

A Fresh Start

What do these numbers mean? Well, for one, it highlights that the MBA still has great relevance if you’re looking to switch careers.

According to the study, out of the 4,400 respondents with jobs in the US, three out of four reported switching careers after earning an MBA. Roughly 5% of MBAs surveyed even reported dropping full-time employment to pursue their own business.

“The promise of the M.B.A. is still very real. Where else can do this magical thing and reinvent yourself partway into your professional life?” M. Eric Johnson, dean of Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, tells the Wall Street Journal. “It’s a uniquely American ideal that if you’re 28 and decide you don’t really like what you’re doing, you can go back to school and start off again in a totally different direction.”

Another striking trend: many MBAs pursue the tech sector after earning their degree.

Out of 3,100 alumni who switched careers, 25% report pursuing the tech sector after getting their MBA.

Karen Schweitzer, a business school admissions consultant, curriculum developer, and education writer, recently wrote a ThoughtCo. piece on reasons why one should pursue an MBA.

Among those reasons? An MBA can grant you the ability to change careers, switch industries, and make yourself a marketable employee in a variety of fields.

“While enrolled in an MBA program, you will have the opportunity to learn general business and management expertise that can be applied to nearly any industry,” Schweitzer writes. “You may also get the chance to specialize in a particular area of business, such as accounting, finance, marketing, or human resources. Specializing in one area will prepare you to work in that field after graduation regardless of your undergraduate degree or previous work experience.”

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Thought Co

3 Common MBA Interview Questions And How To Answer Them

You’ve gotten past the first round of the MBA application. Now, it’s time for you to tackle the interview round.

Applicants who are often nervous about the interview process can rest easy as there is an abundance of information about how to effectively prep for your interview.

Stacy Blackman, an admissions consultant and founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting,recently published a blog piece on the top three most common MBA interview questions and how applicants can address them.

“Tell Me About Yourself”

Blackman says the number one way to answer this question poorly is to go “on and on.”

“It’s easy to do when you’ve been asked such an open-ended question, so make sure you practice your response out loud a few times,” Blackman writes. “There’s no need to recite your life’s story—talking about where you were born, your family, or your childhood is not what they’re looking for here.”

Rather, Blackman says, applicants should approach this question as if they’ve been asked to walk the interviewer through a resume.

“Quickly summarize the highlights of your college years and then move on to your professional career,” Blackman writes. “Explain why you took the roles you did, what your main responsibilities were, and what you enjoyed or took away from each position. If you’ve stayed at the same company for several years, you could talk about how your responsibilities have increased over time.”

“Why School X?”

This question is all about discussing your goals.

“If you haven’t discussed your short- and long-term career goals by the time you are asked this question, you could begin your response by briefly explaining what you’re hoping to do after graduation,” Blackman says. “Then you can state the specific skills and knowledge you’ll need to be successful in the future—and how School X can help you fill those gaps.”

It’s important to also bring in additional information about the specific school.

“You should be prepared to mention school-specific examples of courses, clubs, and other aspects of the curriculum that fit with your career goals,” Blackman writes. “In short, do your homework and refresh your memory of School X’s program before your interview.”

Tyler Cormney, co-founder of MBA Prep School, says the best answers to this question are both personal and specific.

“They are personal because they cover the unique challenges that you need to prepare for in the future,” Cormney writes in an article for P&Q. “They are specific because they draw distinct connections between your motivations for an MBA and the particular resources that each business school has to offer you.”

“Is There Anything Else You’d Like To Add?”

Blackman suggests applicants to always add extra information to this question. The worst things you can do is say no.

“Even if you’ve had an hour-long discussion that covered everything under the sun and you’re feeling confident about how things have gone, you still should take this opportunity to reiterate why you’re excited about the program and why you’d be an asset to the incoming class,” Blackman writes.

Sources: Stacy Blackman Consulting, Poets & Quants

The exterior of the Tepper Quad

Tepper Adds New Part-Time Program

Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business is launching a new part-time MBA degree.

The business school announced Monday that the degree will be for Pittsburgh-area professionals and is designed to provide more flexibility with online, evening, and weekend study.

“This is the MBA program designed for the future of Pittsburgh,” Kathryn Barraclough, head of the MBA program at the Tepper School, says in a press release. “Pittsburgh is rapidly evolving to become a leader in technology, health care and energy, and the Tepper School of Business is committed to help grow the technical and analytical skills of the local workforce to meet the demands necessary for continued growth.”

Part-Time Flex MBA

According to Tepper, the new program, called “The Part-Time Flex MBA”, will take place of the previously offered “Part-Time On-Campus MBA.”

Previously, the original format required part-time students to attend three hours of evening classes on campus at Carnegie Mellon twice a week.

However, under the new format, students will take a combination of intensive in-person weekend classes six times a year on campus and 75-minute courses twice a week online. Additionally, students will also be offered the choice to take electives during the evening, daytime, or online.

Barraclough says the new program is aimed at providing more flexibility for students.

“We’ve heard from many of our part-time candidates, both current students and graduates, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to juggle various demands on their time-full-time jobs, business travel, raising young families-and coming to campus for three hours a night, twice a week is a challenging commitment to keep,” Barraclough says. “The new Part-Time Flex program will give them the flexibility they need without sacrificing the existing high-quality Tepper experience.”

Professional Development

A large number of students Tepper is catering to are part-time students who are looking to advance their careers at their existing company.

One feature that makes the new Tepper program unique is the “Tepper Roadmap”—a three-year personalized professional development plan that, according to Tepper, “emphasizes self-discovery, leadership development, network building and career skills that complements the classroom experience to take a student’s career to the next level.”

Kelly R. Wilson, executive director of masters admissions at Tepper, says the feature is important to help part-time students grow their careers.

“As busy working professionals, we find that our part-time students know where they want their career to go, but they need help creating and executing a plan for how to get there,” Wilson says in a press release. “The Tepper Roadmap provides a framework for students to focus their efforts and the school’s resources to advance their growth during and after the program.”

Sevin Yeltekin, senior associate dean of education at Tepper, says the program will drive the in-demand skills companies are seeking.

“With the Tepper School’s strengths at the intersection of business, technology and analytics — along with CMU’s reputation for expertise and innovation across industries — companies know that our graduates are uniquely prepared to address the business challenges of the 21st century,” Yeltekin says.

Sources: Carnegie Mellon University, Carnegie Mellon University

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