How Recruiters Rank Business Schools By Industry & Skill Set

DATA CONFIRMS THE OBVIOUS IN MANY CASES

Such measures represent the 30,000 foot view. However, Bloomberg Businessweek narrows its scope and digs deep by tabulating all scores so readers can see how particular schools grade out in particular skills. As a result, the data is able to quantify – and dismiss – some stereotypes about schools.

Think of Booth as a quant school? The school lives up to its reputation. Recruiters conferred a collective 4.27 on the school – the highest average across every attribute. Not surprisingly, Booth led the way in analytical thinking as well, boasting a 4.1 average. And Stanford, known for its free-thinking, entrepreneurial mindset, scored highest in risk-taking.

At the same time, INSEAD’s slogan of being the “business school for the world” was proven to be more than an empty mantra. With this fall’s class comprised of a 96% international cohort from 72 different countries, it should come as no shock that recruiters gave it a 3.82 score in “global mindset.” That said, it actually finished second to IE Business School, a Madrid-based entrepreneur’s paradise with 91 international student representation, in this area among recruiters. Kenan-Flagler, renowned for its leadership curriculum, finished only fifth in this area. However, their leadership strengths manifested themselves in other areas, such as top five scores from recruiters in adaptability, strategic thinking, and working collaboratively.

In the 2015 Bloomberg Businessweek rankings, Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School ranked #1 in international programs overall. And communication is a big reason why. Recruiters gave their second highest score – 4.15 – to Ivey in the area of communication – the rarest and most coveted trait. Just north of Ivey, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management earned the highest scores in leadership, a by-product of the program’s integrative thinking philosophy and emphasis on self-development.

Here are the top five schools in each of the 14 skill sets measured by Bloomberg Businessweek (with each school carrying a minimum of 10 responses from recruiters in that particular skill set):

Go to next page to see how which schools fare best according in specific traits in specific industries.