ON THE JOB HUNT

John Costa: “It’s rare when you have really deep and vulnerable conversations with other people about, ‘Hey, I’m struggling with impostor syndrome,’ or, ‘I’ve never been surrounded by so many successful people before, and I just feel really average’

Wharton MBA, Jobless For A Year & $200K In Debt, Offers ‘Urgent Warning’ For Career Changers

An MBA from an elite business school is supposed to be a ticket to a better life. Too often for those who need it most — first-generation, low-income students — it doesn’t work out that way.

John Costa knows this firsthand. He graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with the MBA Class of 2016, looking to break into management consulting in a pivot from his pre-MBA career in local government. But the last eight years have not gone exactly according to plan.

Since graduating, Costa has twice been jobless for 12 months or more, including currently, having been laid off from his dream job at McKinsey in August of last year. He’s also been homeless, having depleted his life savings during the long searches for work — all while saddled with more than $200K in debt.

Wharton MBA, Jobless For A Year, Says Many Like Him Are ‘Suffering In Silence’

John Costa’s struggles to find work as a Wharton MBA struck a chord with Poets&Quants readers. Not only is our story on Costa’s journey since graduating from Wharton in 2016 among the most-read of 2024, but since its publication more than a month ago, Costa has received a huge outpouring of support.

“About 50 people have reached out to offer support since the article went live on P&Q” in July, Costa tells P&Q in a late-August followup interview. “I’ve connected with many of them one-to-one to share my story further. Others were suffering in silence and relieved to learn they weren’t the only ones struggling in the job market.

“Two people have connected me with leadership at their companies to explore whether they might have a job opportunity for me!”

Why McKinsey, Bain & BCG Aren’t Likely To Hire Many MBAs Full-Time In Fall 2024

The recruitment outlook for MBA students aiming to join either McKinsey, Bain, or Boston Consulting Group — the elite MBB firms — is becoming increasingly uncertain.

MBB hiring strategies for Fall 2024 are likely to be more selective than ever before. The explosive growth in headcount seen just a couple of years ago has given way to a period of restructuring and a drop in new hires. Understanding the shifting dynamics of the consulting industry is crucial in strategizing your career moves and ensuring that the time-consuming application and interview preparation for MBB is worth it.

The Tech Bloodbath Is Far From Over: Industry Limps To Midpoint Of 2024

2023 was a historically terrible year for the tech industry. Halfway through, 2024 has not been as bad.

But it’s still a bloodbath out there, according to two websites that track industry layoffs.

TrueUp, a career advisory platform that has been tracking layoffs of engineers, designers, product managers, marketers, account managers, and others at companies big and small since mass layoffs began in 2022, says that so far in 2024 (through June 25), there have been 648 layoffs at tech companies, with 151,165 people impacted — for an average of 854 people per day. That’s pretty awful, but it’s not as bad as the 2,011 layoffs with nearly 430,000 people impacted per day in 2023.

Bain Consultant: The ROI Of An MBA From Columbia Business School

Columbia Business School Graduation Reception – Cluster X

Are you considering whether an MBA makes sense for you? You are in the right place. I was in your shoes a couple of years ago. This month, I have graduated from Columbia Business School with Dean’s Honors and will be returning to Bain & Company.

An MBA is a significant monetary investment. It is a career progression “slow down”, two years with (almost) no salary that often requires you to relocate and start over in a new environment. At first, this can sound scary, even make you consider passing on the idea.

Wait!

I was hesitant too, so I had to gather more intel. I arranged my own focus group with leaders I admired, to learn about their career journeys and MBA experiences. Despite attending different schools and working in different industries around the world, they all shared a common thread in their stories. Each described the MBA as a “transformative life experience” and “one of the best moments of their lives.”

See the next page for more great 2024 stories from Poets&Quants.

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