Even Harvard graduates have trouble finding a job

Finding a professional job in the US has become so difficult that even Harvard Business School says that graduates of theM.B.A His (Master of Business Administration) can no longer rely only on the name of the university to open doors for them.

among the graduates ofM.B.A of Harvard University last spring who were looking for work, 23 percent still hadn’t found a job three months after leaving campus. This rate increased from 20% the previous year, at a time when the white-collar job market is cooling; In 2022, the figure was 10%, according to the school.

“We are not immune to the difficulties of the job market,” said Kristen Fitzpatrick, who oversees career development and alumni relations at Harvard Business School. “Education at Harvard will not be the factor that makes the difference. You must have the required skills.”

Harvard is not the only top business school whose recent graduates seem to be stumbling their way into the job market. for more than a dozen programs M.B.A Top tiers, including those from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and New York University’s Stern School of Business, had the worst hiring results last year than any other year in recent memory.

Most program graduates M.B.A Some of the top schools end up finding high-paying jobs, and school officials say they have an edge in the white-collar job market. However, the figure of the three months is closely examined, because it signals the level of demand for hiring workers who wish to advance in organizations in the fields of high wages. The figure also usually provides statistical value to schools, and they use it to attract young professionals to invest in a management degree.

Ronil Diora, from Surat, India, received last spring theM.B.A His from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, which ranks among the top. He studied for a degree with the goal of changing his career field from manufacturing operations to technology. Diora, 30, said he has applied to at least 1,000 jobs so far, and that he attends networking events in San Francisco, but he wonders if he was naive about being able to move between industries. Graduates who need employer sponsorship for a work visa have gotten jobs at lower rates than American students in several programs, school data show.

“Ask me in two years,” Diura said about the question of whether it was worth studying for the master’s degree.

Challenging job market

Program graduates rate M.B.A of 2024 who are still looking for work months after graduation more than doubled at most top-ranked business schools compared to 2022, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of school data. In some, including the University of Chicago’s Booth School and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School, the rate of unemployed graduates still appears to be more than three times that.

The team has been helping students find jobs for months after graduation, say administrators at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

“We’re not abandoning anyone,” said Lisa Kirkpatrick, assistant dean at the Kellogg School Career Center, noting that while 13% of the program’s graduatesM.B.A The job seekers had no job after three months, this figure dropped to 8% after five months.

There is one highly ranked program that has more 2024 graduates employed by fall than 2023: Columbia Business School. The jobs graduates find M.B.A usually involve a substantial salary, with median starting salaries of about $175,000 per year, according to the school’s data.

Employers do not hire large numbers of graduates M.B.A During the school year, a tactic that was common two years ago. Now, they recruit smaller numbers near graduation—and beyond, according to the team at Columbia and the University of Michigan.

Under these conditions, students should contact professors and alumni, not just the career center or recruiters, Susan Brennan said. She leads career development at the Sloan School of Management WITHthat 22.8% of the graduates of the M.B.AHis was still looking for a job three months after graduation. Brennan said that if graduates who launch start-ups or return to previous employers are taken into account, the total group of graduates M.B.A who did not find jobs is smaller.

The recruiters disappear

Amazon, Google and Microsoft reduced the recruitment of graduates of theM.B.Aand so are the consulting companies, according to recent graduates and business school employees.

McKinsey, for example, cut back on hiring graduates fromM.B.A Chicago Booth to 33, down from 71 the previous year, the school said. Google and Amazon spokespeople said the companies continue to hire graduates M.B.Abut the number of recruitments varies according to business needs. Microsoft said it has slightly reduced the hiring of graduates fromM.B.A.

Jenny Zenner, senior director at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Career Center, said she’s seeing less hiring of graduates M.B.A to technology companies (in Darden, 10% of graduates could not find a job three months after graduation, up from 5% in 2023). Many tech recruiters have lost their jobs, and companies have scaled back their internship programs, fundamentally changing the way college graduates are hired, she said.

“Companies tell us, ‘We don’t come to campus anymore,'” Zener added.

The super picky environment is not a temporary disruption, but a new reality, said Fitzpatrick of Harvard Business School.

“I don’t think it will change,” she believes.

To help students and alumni, Harvard is testing an artificial intelligence tool that can match job seekers’ resumes to their preferred positions and recommend online classes to bridge skills gaps. Harvard Business School is also offering students a new four-day intensive course on job hunting, focusing on soft skills such as networking and how to present your skill set.

“Am I good enough?”

graduates M.B.A Freshers who are still looking for work say they are cutting expenses and taking contract jobs. Even graduates who signed jobs had to change plans.

Yvette Anguiano received a job offer in consulting fromEY-Parthenon After a summer internship when she was a student at Kellogg. Last September, she moved to Seattle for the job, then found out that her start date had been pushed back to June 2025.

“I was pretty devastated,” she said. “I tried to do everything right.”

Anguiano has run out of savings, and student loan payment deadlines are getting closer and closer. The company awarded her a stipend of $35,000, an amount much smaller than her starting salary, and she is looking for a job to bridge the gap. EY-Parthenon She did not respond to requests for comment.

Last spring, Nikhil Sreekumar graduated from Duke University’s Piocqua School of Business Administration, which 18% of the graduatesM.B.A His was still looking for a job. He applied to about 500 jobs before the Duke graduate referred Sreekumar to Amazon as a senior program manager. He starts this month.

“You ask yourself all the time, am I good enough?” He said about his long job search. “I’m so relieved.”