P&Q’s Must Reads: Harvard 2022 Jobs Data: MBA Median Salary & Total Compensation Explode

Hello everyone  –- Welcome back to Poets&Quants’ Must Reads, a quick, digestible recap of the top business school news, sponsored by CentreCourt, P&Q’s virtual admission events.

I’m your host, Kristy Bleizeffer, and I’ll be highlighting the most important P&Q stories you might have missed. So, let’s get to it. 

No. 1: Harvard 2022 Jobs Data: MBA Median Salary & Total Compensation Explode

One year removed from an employment report that saw its MBAs go backward in total compensation, Harvard has released a trove of jobs data showing that 2022 was a return to form, and then some. Massive jumps in median salary and median total pay serve as a reminder to everyone that an elite MBA — and even more so, a Harvard MBA — is a ticket to socioeconomic advancement.

Of course, 2021 was a far different landscape for newly minted MBAs, from the top tier down. The pandemic was still very much a factor in the classroom and outside of it. This year, HBS grads had fewer challenges and saw bigger rewards, including a huge 16.3% year-to-year increase in median salary to $175,000. Median signing bonuses remained at $30,000, where they have been since 2019, but median performance bonuses increased to $40,000.

You can see the full report in our jobs tab.

No. 2: Ranking The World’s Most Sought-After Employers Of MBAs In 2022

Employer branding agency Universum last week revealed its 14th annual survey on the world’s most attractive employers, as well as employment trends and predictions.

In short, while 2022 was a banner year for job-seeking students — with high demand stemming from record talent shortages — 2023 is looking, well, a bit less rosy.

For business students, Apple was the most attractive company in 2022, up from No. 3 a year ago. The company scored highly in both offering challenging work problems for its workers as well as flexibility and work-life balance. Google dropped to No. 2 in 2022 (down from No. 1 in 2021) followed by Microsoft at No. 3.

Get the full list of the 50 favorite employers of MBA students, as well as insight into the likely bumpy employment year ahead, now in our rankings tab.

 No. 3: Q&A With Wharton’s New Vice Dean Of MBA Programs

Nicolaj Siggelkow grew up in Germany, and studied under famed economists Paul Milgrom at Stanford University and Michael Porter at Harvard. He’s taught at Wharton for nearly 25 years. 

Effective July 1, he became the new vice dean of Wharton’s MBA program, among the largest and most prestigious programs in the world.

I recently got to sit down with Siggelkow in his office in Jon M. Huntsman Hall at The Wharton School. In a long, wide-ranging conversation, we talked about his goals for this new role, the pressures on the MBA degree, and classroom innovations coming out of the pandemic. 

You can read our exchange on our homepage.

No. 4: Our Weekly Round Up of  News You Can Use

No matter where you are in your MBA journey, we bring several helpful stories for you this week.

First up: Don’t miss our second annual $50,000 pitch competition with Washington University’s Olin Business School. The BIG IdeaBounce® is a pitch contest open to all current business school students. Submit your idea in an easy-to-complete online form by January 15, 2023. Get full entry details, and more on that $50,000 prize, in our news tab.

Next: For those looking for the right programs, we have the latest employment reports from the class of 2022. This week, you can get the stats for Chicago Booth, Berkeley Haas, Vanderbilt, and, of course, Harvard. Find these and other recent jobs reports in our news tab.

Finally: Finally, check out our application tips for older candidates as well as tips for non-traditional applicants. You can always find more helpful advice in our admissions tab.

And, that’s it for this week’s Must Reads recap. 

I also want to alert all the school seekers out there to CentreCourt’s upcoming MBA Festival events. For those interested in online MBAs, our next backstage event is November 15-16. Register now for free.

Again, I’m Kristy Bleizeffer, and you can join me next week, right here, for a recap of what’s important in the world of business education. Thanks for listening and, as always, stay informed!