Record Total Pay At Booth As Tech Gains More Favor

The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business — Photo by John A. Byrne

INDUSTRY CHOICES BY BOOTHIES SHOW TECH AT A RECORD HIGH

Outside of the record numbers of grads accepting job offers with tech firms, tthe industry preferences of Booth graduates didn’t change all that dramatically. Sure, finance gained its number one spot, but barely, while consulting slipped into second place this year. Every financial category with the exception of investment banking took a higher percentage of the class than a year earlier, with diversified financial services hiring 6.4% versus 3.9%, PE firms employing 5.6% versus 4.7%, and VC outfits taking 2.8% of the class versus 1.8% (see table below).

Students going into both consumer products and healthcare declined this year, falling to 4.3% and 2.1% of the class, respectively, from 5.3% and 2.9%. Retail and nonprofit hires also were down, dropping by half or more to 0.9% and 0.6% of the class, respectively, from 1.8% and 1.4% in 2017.

On the upswing, however, were jobs in energy, real estate and transpiration. But again, the changes were relatively small.

BIGGEST CHUNK OF BOOTH CLASS OF 2018 STAYED IN THE MIDWEST

As you would expect, the largest single group of graduates took jobs in the midwest, accounting for 31.8% of Booth MBAs, with 29.5% of the class staying in Chicago. The West Coast was the second most popular employment destination, attracting 23.9% of this year’s graduates, with 15% headed into the Bay Area, 6% in Seattle, and 2.4% in Los Angeles.

Some 22.4% took jobs in the northeast, the vast majority in New York City which gained 19.4% of the class. About 4.5% of Booth MBAs headed for the southwest, with 2.4% in the mid-Atlantic states, and just 2.1% in the south.

Booth said 12.8% of the class took jobs overseas, with 4.7% going to Latin America and the Caribbean and 3.4% returning to Asia. Just 1.9% of the class accepted jobs in Europe and 1.7% in Canada. Median salaries for international placements was $110,000 versus the $131,550 median for jobs in the U.S.