The MBA Bump: How Much To Expect?

Career switchers did slightly better than graduates who returned to the same industry that they had worked in before going to school. The average increase over pre-MBA salary for a career switcher this year is 71%, versus 67% for graduates who stayed in the same industry (see table below).

PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN ANNUAL BASE SALARY BY STUDENT DEMOGRAPHICS, 2011 VS. 2012

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

One of the most important factors in the bump tends to be a graduate’s decision to enter a specific industry. According to GMAC, some of the biggest increases this year were in high tech where base pay jumped an average of 69% over pre-MBA salaries (see table below).

PERCENTAGE OF JOB SEEKS WITH A JOB OFFER 7 CHANGE OF SALARY, BY PREFERRED INDUSTRY

Source: 2012 GMAC Global Management Education Graduate Survey

GMAC said that a job seeker in the Class of 2012 who received a job offer submitted approximately nine resumes, had four interviews, and received an average of two job offers, which would suggest that they expended less effort and achieved a higher job offer yield than class of 2011 graduates with job offers, who submitted an average of 16 resumes, landed six interviews, and received the same number (2) of job offers.

Internships were also the most successful way to find a post-MBA job. while school-based programs also were an extremely viable method for obtaining job offers. GMAC said students with the highest success rates used school career services (53%), school job boards (44%), job fairs (35%), and networking with their classmates and alumni (32%). The average job seeker used six search methods to obtain a job offer (see table below)

JOB SEARCH METHODS AND SUCCESS RATE