M/B/B Hire Nearly 28% Of INSEAD MBAs

One of INSEAD's three campuses in Fontainebleau, France

One of INSEAD’s three campuses in Fontainebleau, France

INSEAD MBAS TOOK CONSULTING JOBS IN 20 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

The consulting hiring spree, however, extended well beyong M/B/B. Accenture also hired 24 MBAs and Strategy& took an equal number last year, while A.T. Kearney employed 16 grads from INSEAD. Several other consulting firms filled out INSEAD’s top employers list, including Deloitte (7), Partners in Performance (7), Roland Berger (7), AlixPartners (3), Alvarez & Marsal (3), Booz Allen Hamilton (3), and L.E.K. Consulting (3).

Owing to INSEAD’s global nature, MBAs headed into consulting took jobs in 20 different countries, ranging from the United Arab Emirates to Portugal. Some 45 consulting hires were in the United Kingdom, 37 in the UAE, 25 in the U.S., 21 in Singapore, 17 each in the Netherlands and Germany, and 15 in Spain. In all, the school’s MBAs found jobs in 57 different countries, with 45% of the entire class in Europe.

INSEAD, which publishes one of the most transparent employment reports of any business school, breaks down salary levels by career choice in each country. Those numbers show significant variance in how much consultants are paid around the world. The lowest median salary for a consultant was reported for India: $48,700. The highest was the U.S.: $140,000, with median sign-on bonuses of $35,000, equivalent to the comp packages paid to MBA graduates of Harvard, Stanford and other top U.S. schools.

HIGHEST STARTING SALARY: $204,200 FOR A PE JOB IN BRITAIN

Even consulting salaries in many European countries were well below the sums paid in the U.S. In Germany, for example, median starting salary for an INSEAD grad in consulting was $107,10; in France, it was $95,800, and in Italy, $88,800. The highest consulting salaries in Europe for MBAs was in the United Kingdom: $119,800, with a median sign-on bonus of $23,000. That’s still $32,200 less than the median salary and signing bonus package in the U.S.

The highest median salaries and bonuses were paid to MBAs who went into the financial sector where the median starting salary was $114,900, just $1,300 above the consulting median, but the bonuses were considerably more: signing bonuses of $31,400, received by 48% of the graduates, and other guaranteed bonuses of $48,500, given to 60% of the students who went into finance.

Not surprisingly, the highest paid INSEAD grad out of the gate was in finance, too. One MBA landed a job as an associate in private equity or venture capital with a stating base of $204,200 in the United Kingdom. Another MBA reported a $200,000 starting salary for a job in engineering.

SURPRISING NUMBERS OF INSEAD GRADS USING THE MBA TO TRANSITION

INSEAD’s numbers go against the grain in at least one respect. Accelerated MBA program make it far more difficult for students to take advantage of summer internship programs that are increasingly being used by employers as tryouts required to secure a full-time job offer. But that issue apparently hasn’t been all that much of a hurdle to INSEAD students who used their degrees to transition out of a pre-MBA industry or discipline.

Yet, INSEAD says that 80% of the survey respondents were able to change their industry, country or function with the degree. More surprisingly, 26% did the MBA triple jump, switching industries, countries and functions. Some 52% changed industry sector, while 59% change their work function.

The international mobility of INSEAD’s graduates was especially impressive, though students who attend the school are a self-selecting group who have made conscious choices about wanting a global career. Some 53% of the graduates changed countries with their employement decisions. INSEAD said that 56% of the Americans in the program went abroad, while the reamining 44% returned to the U.S. for their jobs.

A country switch was most prevalent among Indian MBAs, with 78% finding jobs abroad. But it was also very high among a wide set of nationalities, including Canadians, Belgians, and the French, 70% of which landed jobs outside their home countries. The students who most likely returned home were those from Singapore, Spain, Britain, Turkey, Brazil, and Holland.

Still, INSEAD said that 62% of the class that graduated in December did a summer internship or project, with 18% of them in consulting and 17% at e-commerce or Internet companies.

DON’T MISS: WHAT GRADUATING MBAS MADE IN 2015 or MBA SALARIES RISE 7.5% AT LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL

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