For Yale MBAs, One Industry (Still) Rules Them All

Yale SOM’s MBA Class of 2019 went heavily into consulting — and the Class of 2020 might continue the trend, if internship data is any indicator. Yale SOM photo

At Yale School of Management, it’s only a slight exaggeration to say that there’s consulting, and then there’s everything else. The school’s recently released 2019 employment report shows 37.2% of Yale’s latest crop of more than 300 MBAs went into the field, up from 34.9% last year and up nearly 8 points, or 27%, since 2015 — and far more than the next-closest field, finance.

Yale SOM has long been a consulting hotbed, with 35.9% in 2017, 34.9% in 2018, and more than 37% of 2019 grads going into consulting — and Yale produces MBA strategists at a higher clip than Harvard Business School (23%, 25%, and 21%, respectively), The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (25.1%, 25%, 28.3%), Columbia Business School (33.1%, 33.6%, 32.6%), and MIT’s Sloan School of Management (32.1%, 31.6%, 30.7%). Yale even outshines Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where consulting has long been king but where it has slipped from 33% in 2017 to 31% this year, and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, which has grown its consulting pipeline from 32.6% two years ago to 34.8% in 2019.

Stanford Graduate School of Business’ 2019 employment data is expected to show what we know about GSB, which is that it is not traditionally a big consulting school, having sent only 18% of its class into the industry in the 2018 cycle and 20% the year prior. Which means Yale SOM is a bigger consulting producer by percentage of its graduating classes than all of the M7 schools — and there is little indication of a drop-off next year, as internship data shows that 39.8% of Yale students interned this summer in a consulting function, in line with the 40.4% who did so in the summer of 2018.

YALIES ‘CHOOSE EMPLOYMENT ACROSS DIVERSE INDUSTRIES & FUNCTIONS’

Which is not to say Yale SOM grads don’t spread themselves out across industries — they do. Of the 344 members of the Class of 2019, 301 sought employment this year after collecting their degrees, and about a quarter — 24% — took jobs in finance, the highest rate since 2015. Of particular note is a massive jump in those working in private equity/venture capital, which grew from 2% last year to 4.7% in 2019 (see chart on page 2). The number of tech-bound Yalies slipped, however, to 12.8%, the lowest since 2016, but healthcare (5.1%) and nonprofit (2.6%) were both up significantly.

Though Yale doesn’t disclose the numbers of MBAs who sign on with each employer, a list of the top employers of Class of 2019 grads includes all the big names in consulting, finance, and tech (as well as others): the MBB firms, of course — McKinsey, Bain, and Boston Consulting Group — and the big tech companies on the West Coast, where nearly 30% of Yale grads moved after collecting their degrees.

“I’m excited that our students have continued to find and choose employment across diverse industries and functions,” Abigail Kies, Yale SOM’s assistant dean of career development, tells Poets&Quants, “while strengthening our relationships with some of the top traditional MBA employers including Amazon, Bain, BCG, Deloitte, IBM, JP Morgan Chase & Co., McKinsey, and Morgan Stanley.”

SALARIES UP, OVERALL COMP UP, BONUSES FLAT

Salaries are up for Yale MBAs in 2019, including a rise in median starting salary to $130,000 from $127,100, and an increase in overall median compensation to $157,990 from $151,630, a 4.2% increase. More reported receiving a signing bonus (median: $30,000, same as last year), 74.5% to 68.9%, but fewer reported getting year-end bonuses (median: $20,000, same as last year): 14.1% in 2019 compared to 19.3% last year.

In all, 92.4% of SOM grads reported receiving job offers three months after graduation, up from 91.9% in 2018 but down from 93.4% in 2017; while 91.4% reported accepting them, up from 89.8% last year. The job acceptance rate is Yale’s highest since 2015.

Most Yalies stay in the United States after getting their MBA: 79.9% to the 20.1% who go international. Those who stay in the U.S. make a median salary of $135,000. Yale reports that, unsurprisingly, most of these MBAs (50.5%) stay in the Northeast corridor between Boston and New York City —  but that they make the least of any region, a median $130,000, while those in the Southwest (6.4%), which includes Dallas-Fort Worth, make the most: $151,000. Of those who work abroad, most do so in Asia (34.5%), Europe (20%), or the Middle East/North Africa (16.4%); the latter make the most of international Yale MBAs, a median $130,000.

Yale says 43% of its Class of 2019 are women and 45% are international passport holders.

EMPLOYMENT REPORTS FOR OTHER TOP SCHOOLS:

HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL

THE WHARTON SCHOOL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA 

MIT SLOAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT 

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY KELLOGG SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT 

COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL 

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO BOOTH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE TCUK SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

UC-BERKELEY HAAS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

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