MBA job market resiliency
MBA graduates leverage the knowledge gained in the classroom and resources offered by graduate career services to secure full-time positions and make an impact in their current roles.
It has been an exciting fall and early spring for our MBA students and their employment search. The internship and job search go hand-in-hand, as this year’s graduating full-time cohort has proved. They had a strong summer 2023 internship season, which has led to nearly 50 percent of the graduating 2024 MBA students accepting full-time jobs with their existing internship company. “A goal of the graduate career services team is to help students recognize that their last internship should be a meaningful learning experience that has the potential to meet the student’s expectation of culture, impact, and a future roadmap of growth options. When a soon-to-be graduate finds that special company, it is often a win-win for the employer and the student,” says Tabatha Carney, director of graduate business career services.
“As career professionals, our team keeps a constant pulse on the job market. We recognize that the current and the past year have resulted in some extra challenges regarding employment, particularly for new graduates. Our mission is to keep employers and students engaged so that when opportunities are available, our talented MBAs are positioned to be top candidates for those opportunities,” Carney adds.
Concurrent MBA student Ashley Woods (‘24 MBA, mechanical engineering) is one of those students who made the most of her last internship.
“During my summer 2023 internship, I worked with one of America’s largest civil/construction engineering companies, Kiewit. I was placed in their power division and worked on a mid-scale solar project outside Waco, Texas. As an MBA engineer, I worked diligently in the field and office, completing various tasks to ensure the project reached mechanical completion and the hard work paid off. Shortly after I finished my internship, I received a full-time offer. The graduate career services staff at Ivy were a massive contributor to my getting the internship and a full-time offer. Not only did they help me craft the perfect resume to secure an interview, I was also shown how to effectively captivate my future employer and describe how I can add value to the company. I knew what questions they would ask and how to answer them. Additionally, through some guidance from career services, I was able to clarify and negotiate to get the best full-time offer.”