The Real Reasons Elite Companies Hire So Many MBAs [mba.com Insider]

According to the latest Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Corporate Recruiters Survey, 91 percent of recruiters plan to hire MBAs in 2021.

Among those recruiters are many high-profile companies in the consulting, finance, and technology sectors, each looking to hire MBA talent who can bring in business savvy and new ideas. For example, nearly half of McKinsey's incoming consultants are MBA grads, while Amazon plans to hire over 1,000 MBAs in 2021.

Add that tech company hiring of MBA grads has shot up and you get a picture of the elite companies keen to snap up the best MBA talent out there.

But why? What are the real reasons the most illustrious companies hire so many MBAs?

MBAs are excellent managers

According to the GMAC 2021 Corporate Recruiters Survey, the four skills employers value most in business school graduates are interpersonal, leadership, decision-making, and strategic thinking skills.

During an MBA, you’ll master all four. By working with diverse teams, you’ll learn how to reach out across cultural boundaries and brainstorm with your peers to solve business challenges. In hands-on learning projects, you’ll be taught how to think critically, prioritize tasks, and keep in mind the big picture.

By the time you graduate from your MBA, you’ll have acquired the skills to become a compassionate and reliable manager, able to effectively collaborate, negotiate, and compromise.

This ability to communicate effectively is what elite companies are looking for. “A great idea that you can’t communicate in written or verbal form is a useless idea,” says Keith Bevans, consultant at top consulting firm Bain & Company.

“In Bain’s team-oriented culture, you must be able to give feedback and receive feedback.  You must be a good coach and be willing to be coached.”

MBAs have an extensive network

During your MBA, you’ll develop close ties with people from across the world and with a wide variety of industry backgrounds. This tight-knit network may come in handy later in your career, as your classmates could be your future business partners, investors, or mentors.

As you evolve within your industry, you’ll also keep refining the networking skills you’ve developed during your MBA and continue to build connections that may benefit you down the line.

Recruiters know that MBA grads come with this web of professional connections that they might be able to leverage, as well as excellent networking skills.

Having worked and networked with people with very different backgrounds and expertise, MBAs also have excellent teamwork skills, which recruiters actively look for.

“The most successful people at Bain are more focused on helping clients and being a team player than trying to win personal accolades,” Keith says. “At Bain, being a collaborative team member is far better than being an individual star.”

MBAs are digitally savvy

As companies undergo post-pandemic shifts and embrace new technologies, they increasingly need employees with the necessary digital skills to keep up with the various ways technology is shaping business.

To respond to the changes in industry, the MBA syllabus is changing for the future. Programs have started to include more data analysis, coding, and web development courses in their curricula.

For example, the MBA at HEC Paris—France’s top-ranked program according to the Financial Times—begins with an introductory course in data science.

The incorporation of tech into the MBA curriculum means by the time they graduate, MBA students have learned a wide array of skills that can be applied in the tech sector and beyond.

And tech employers are looking to boost their recruitment of MBAs. 96% of recruiters in the tech industry plan to hire MBA graduates in 2021, compared to 80% in 2019. As the sector continues to grow, recruiters will increasingly look for digitally savvy and innovation-oriented leaders to plan and manage the industry’s evolution.

“We value MBA students as they tend to fit well within our corporate culture,” says an Amazon spokesperson. “They are customer-obsessed, risk-oriented, scrappy and analytical.”

MBAs are adaptable and resilient

During your MBA, you’ll learn to wear many hats. You’ll often have to manage various projects simultaneously, while juggling professional, academic, and personal commitments.

“MBA candidates typically have a unique balance of real-world experience and classroom insights that makes them really valuable,” Keith from Bain points out.

“Most people train to play sheet music, but the consultant job requires a lot of improvisational skill too.”

Once you graduate, you’ll have acquired excellent time management skills, the flexibility to deliver on multiple tasks at once, and the ability to roll with the punches. To recruiters, that is extremely important.

‘Today’s MBA programs attract people who are looking to learn, grow, and achieve more—these are our kind of people,’ says Angela Michalik, head of consultant recruiting at Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

MBA talent is attractive to elite companies, who want employees with a wide array of technical and soft skills, a far-reaching professional network, digital expertise, and a resilient attitude.

Once you graduate with your MBA, you’ll be able to put forward those qualities to recruiters and get the opportunity to be at the forefront of global business shifts at some of the world’s most high-profile companies.