M.B.A. Hiring Continues to Grow

This is great news for those out there who are getting or already have their M.B.A.  It’s also a great reason to continue your education if possible!  JAMK has an M.B.A. program in International Business Management which is pretty darn good.  I’m a student in it so you’re hearing it first hand .  Click here for more info on how to apply.

Employment among M.B.A. grads is highest since before the recession, indicates U.S. News data.

By Laura McMullen, March 19, 2012

Good news for business school students: More M.B.A. graduates are landing jobs now than in the past two years, according to an analysis of U.S. News data. Of the 441 business schools surveyed by U.S. News in fall of 2011, 135 provided job placement data for their 2011 graduates of full-time M.B.A. programs in an annual survey.

Among those schools, 78.8 percent of 2011 graduates were hired within three months of graduation. Hiring information for graduates of part-time programs was not used to calculate these percentages.

By comparison, 119 business schools provided employment data in 2009 and 2010, and among those schools, 75.7 percent of 2010 grads and 70.8 percent of 2009 grads landed a job within three months of graduation. These average percentage gains reflect a 4.1 percent growth in the M.B.A. hiring market from 2010, and an 11.3 percent increase from 2009, among those schools that provided data. [See the U.S. News rankings of Best Business Schools.]

“Companies will always need a pipeline of talented M.B.A. graduates,” says Wendy Tsung, associate dean and executive director of M.B.A. career services at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, where 94 percent of 2011 grads reportedly found work within three months of graduation.

Many of those companies are expressing their interest in M.B.A.’s by approaching them at school. Seventy percent of the 102 business programs surveyed for a February 2012 MBA Career Services Council report experienced increased on-campus recruiting in 2011.

Specifically, those on-campus recruiters want M.B.A.’s to fill technology positions. More than 60 percent of respondents to the MBA Career Services Council survey reported an increase in recruiting for full-time technology positions in 2011, up from the 37 percent bump technology job recruitment saw in 2010. In 2011, the surveyed business programs felt a bigger increase in recruitment for technology jobs than for positions in any other industry.

U.S. News data show a similar trend: Business schools with the highest job placement percentages include Georgia Institute of Technology’s College of Management and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, where 95.1 and 93.5 percent of 2011 grads, respectively, found work within three months of graduation.

[These 10 M.B.A.'s have the most financial value at graduation.]

Whatever field M.B.A. students plan to enter, they need to develop a clear focus on what field they want to pursue before they enter the grad program, says Tsung of Goizueta. Unlike most undergraduate programs, M.B.A. tracks typically last about two years—and “recruiting starts the moment you walk through the door,” Tsung says.

“The hiring timeline is very aggressive,” Tsung notes. “Spend time before entering the program to identify some areas you’re interested in.”

Tsung suggests that students get practical experience in a potential field before they invest in the M.B.A. program, by volunteering with a related organization, joining the industry’s association, or exploring that kind of work in their current company. Students can also talk with employees of the industry they’re interested in and ask questions about what they do and the challenges they face, Tsung adds.

With a solid idea of what sort of work they want to pursue with their M.B.A., students can hit the ground running when they begin classes. M.B.A. curricula and the hiring process are often tough, so there’s not much room in a two year, sometimes $100,000 program, to change directions, some say.

And often, as they take classes, M.B.A.’s must juggle coursework, job prospects, family life, and more, says Corinne Snell, executive director of the Center for Student Professional Development at Temple University’s Fox School of Business, where 95.3 percent of 2011 grads found work within three months of graduation.

The hectic schedule of an M.B.A. program is something the student will have to get used to, Snell says.

“They have so much going on, but welcome to the corporate world,” she says, citing the common 60 and 70 hour workweeks of business people. “It’s not going to be Easy Street after they graduate.”

Source: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-business-schools/articles/2012/03/19/mba-hiring-continues-to-grow

5 Skills Everyone Needs to Have on a Resume

By Ritika Trikha

Source: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/03/20/5-skills-everyone-needs-to-have-on-a-resume

If your resume feels a little thin or you can’t seem to fill up the Skills & Expertise section of your LinkedIn profile, then it’s time to do something about it. There are countless free educational tools on the Web that make it easier than ever to teach yourself valuable skills that will help to create a robust resume.

Your resume is more than a summary of your past experience. It’s a tool that can help propel your career growth—that is, if you highlight skills, language, and the context of the job you want, rather than regurgitating your past experience.

Consider boosting your skills in the following:

1. Excel

Many job-seekers list Excel as one of their skills, even if they only have a mastery of the basics. Set aside some time this evening or weekend to learn some new features.

Excel is valuable because it offers some essential ways to analyze a lot of info in the least amount of time. Go beyond the basics of formulas and equations and learn about features like Excel’s PivotCharts, custom functions, Visual Basics for Applications, and more. Search for free tutorials online; you’ll be bombarded with resources and videos.

2. Web Development (Java, HTML, SQL)

Many experts agree that having knowledge of computer languages is particularly appealing to today’s employers. Learning Web development isn’t just applicable for IT professionals. Whether you’re a new business grad or a seasoned professional looking to brush up on the latest in-demand skills, learning the basics may make you more relevant.

All you have to do is start. Free tutorials from W3Schools.com, Code Academy, and other coding resources will give you step-by-step instructions on the basics.

3. Adobe Creative Suite

Practicing creative web tools is a great way to develop some basic graphic design skills. Adobe is very widely used for just this—so if you can get your hands on the software, then you can choose your favorite application and begin learning.

The suite includes various creative applications, including InDesign, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver—all programs that companies rely on to create engaging Web designs and layouts. You never know when you might be able to lend a hand in a new project that requires proficiency in using one of these apps.

Start now by taking advantage of Adobe’s How-To Channel, which hosts videos for beginners.

4. Foreign Language

Learning a new language can open up a lot of doors for you as a professional. In fact, becoming fluent in a second language could even offer you the opportunity to work in another country.

The most popular language-learning courses are effective, but they can also be costly. Instead, teach yourself at home by taking advantage of a free online course. In fact, free online courses are growing in popularity. Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the University of California, Berkeley are some colleges that are sharing courses online.

If, for instance, you decide to learn Mandarin, check out MIT’s OpenCourseWare. You’ll find course material, audio demonstrations, study groups, and more for beginning to intermediate levels of Mandarin.

5. Google Analytics

Web 2.0 is centered on Google. The ability to track and analyze how Google ranks and organizes information can be invaluable both personally and professionally. Google Analytics can help job-seekers manage their online presence (LinkedIn profile, Twitter, personal website, etc.) to enhance their marketability to potential employers. To start, type “Google Analytics IQ Online Course” in Google and watch one of the training videos.

Ritika Trikha

 

Ritika Trikha is a junior copywriter for CareerBliss, an online career community dedicated to helping people find happiness in the workplace. Check out CareerBliss for millions of job listings, company reviews, salary information, and a free career happiness assessment.

‘Badges’ Earned Online Pose Challenge to Traditional College Diplomas

By Jeffrey R. Young

The spread of a seemingly playful alternative to traditional diplomas, inspired by Boy Scout achievement patches and video-game power-ups, suggests that the standard certification system no longer works in today’s fast-changing job market.

Educational upstarts across the Web are adopting systems of “badges” to certify skills and abilities. If scouting focuses on outdoorsy skills like tying knots, these badges denote areas employers might look for, like mentorship or digital video editing. Many of the new digital badges are easy to attain—intentionally so—to keep students motivated, while others signal mastery of fine-grained skills that are not formally recognized in a traditional classroom.

At the free online-education provider Khan Academy, for instance, students get a “Great Listener” badge for watching 30 minutes of videos from its collection of thousands of short educational clips. With enough of those badges, paired with badges earned for passing standardized tests administered on the site, users can earn the distinction of “Master of Algebra” or other “Challenge Patches.”

Traditional colleges and universities are considering badges and other alternative credentials as well. In December the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that it will create MITx, a self-service learning system in which students can take online tests and earn certificates after watching the free lecture materials the university has long posted as part of its OpenCourseWare project.

Why I Don’t Want the Recession to End Yet

We could use some more time to understand what went wrong with our economy, and to get Wall Street back in proper perspective

By Dov Seidman

Everyone is asking the same questions: Have we hit bottom yet? When will the recession end? When will things go back to the way they were?

As a chief executive, I’m as eager as anyone to put the recession into the past. A growing economy benefits everyone.

But now that there are signs of recovery, there’s a part of me—and I’m reluctant to admit this—that doesn’t want things to get too good too fast. I think we could use some more time to understand what went wrong with our economy.

That’s because I’m not sure we’ve fully absorbed the lessons from this difficult, painful, and troubling time.

Saving for the Future

To be sure, we’ve learned some things. We’ve begun to save for the future instead of spending money we don’t have. We’re more wary, as we should be, of people selling us investment products that sound too good to be true. And we’ve learned that no company is too big to fail. Size alone does not guarantee long-term survival. To the contrary, the aggressive pursuit of scale—whether it’s more revenues, profits, customers, or stores, or a bigger market capitalization—tempts companies to lose sight of the values and principles that lead to true sustainability.

If we return to business as usual too quickly, we will miss the opportunity to create the new habits of thought and behavior that we need to build sustainable economic growth.

One place to start is by restoring Wall Street to its proper role in society, which is to serve investors, entrepreneurs, and companies. For the past couple of decades, America’s best and brightest college graduates and MBAs flocked to Wall Street. And they did so for a simple reason: They could get rich quickly.

As Simon Johnson, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, reported in The Atlantic, between 1948 and 1982, average compensation in the financial sector ranged between 99% and 108% of the average for all domestic private industries. On average, Wall Street bankers made just a little more than executives elsewhere. Compensation in financial services began to climb in the mid-1980s, and in 2007, it topped out at 181% of pay elsewhere.

Financial Balloon

Wall Street’s profits grew rapidly, too. During the market slump of the 1970s and early ’80s, the financial sector never accounted for more than 16% of domestic corporate profits. By the 1990s, banks and insurance companies were capturing between 21% and 30% of U.S. corporate profits. During the 2000s, the figure topped 40%.

By then, the investment banks were focused on “innovation” and “financial products,” including the structured finance products, collateralized debt obligations, and credit default swaps we’ve heard so much about. While some of these creations were well intentioned—mortgage debt was pooled, in theory, to reduce risk and enable more people to buy their own homes—much of it was overly complicated and intended to enrich the bankers at the expense of their clients.

In the rush to create new financial “products,” banks lost sight of their core mission. In truth, their role is to safeguard the financial resources of their customers and to help allocate capital to productive uses in society. In the future, bankers should worry less about their own “innovation” and more about supporting the real innovations of entrepreneurs and others who create tangible value. Wall Street is supposed to be in the financial services business—that is, the business of serving others.

A society that has too much of its energy, smarts, and capital flowing to Wall Street is, by definition, underinvesting in the rest of the economy.

In the future, let’s focus on the traditional strengths of the American economy. Here are three things we do well:

1. We produce trust better than other societies.

The U.S. economy has prospered because we respect the rule of law, contracts, intellectual property, and transparency. That’s why it’s so painful when trust is betrayed. By rebuilding trust, America will attract the capital and the people we need to thrive. Banks will again lend, investors will embrace risks and entrepreneurs will dream big—but only after trust is restored.

2. We solve problems by deploying the forces of capitalism.

While government policy is important, businesses built the railroads, created the automobile industry, enabled global communications, and generated the growth in personal wealth that, even now, after the housing bust, allows about 67% of Americans to own their homes. We need our best and brightest today to devote themselves to our big problems: the environment, health care, and education. Business can help lead the way. Many companies already are—look at Wal-Mart’s commitment to sustainability or GE’s new effort to help deal with the cost and availability of health care.

3. We create real value from values.

We do our best when, instead of pursuing short-term success, we are inspired by values. Most great businesses are driven by values. By that, I mean that they are other-directed; they focus on the needs and wants of their customers, workers, and communities. Just as important, they go about their business in a principled, consistent and transparent way. Examples abound: Google (GOOG) with its drive to organize all of the world’s information, Walt Disney (DIS) with its desire to entertain families, UPS (UPS)with its goal of enabling global commerce to thrive.

These are among the big ideas that we can take away from the global economic meltdown. They’re about more than spending, saving, borrowing, regulating, or reading the fine print in an investment prospectus. Business leaders need to have a thoughtful conversation about these ideas—and that will take time. Let’s get started now.

Dov Seidman is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of LRN, a company that helps businesses develop ethical corporate cultures and inspire principled performance, and the author of HOW: Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything…in Business (and in Life). LRN recently announced the acquisition of leading green strategy firm, GreenOrder.

Original Blog Post: http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jul2009/ca20090717_780752.htm