Columbia Business School: Class of 2015 Employment Report

The finance industry remains the most popular destination for MBA graduates of Columbia Business School (CBS). Students moving into MBA jobs in the sector account for 37% of the class of 2015, according to the school’s new employment report. That’s a rise of two percentage points on 2014, but still one short of the 38% figure seen in 2013.

Even so, salaries in the finance industry are picking up. For example, those taking MBA jobs in the area of investment banking report a 25% increase to their median base salary this year, following two consecutive years at US$100,000. Indeed, in both 2013 and 2014, the US$100,000 figure meant that salaries in this most popular area within finance were under the average level (by approximately US$10,000) accepted by the class as a whole. In 2015, investment banking salaries meet the class average of US$125,000.

New MBA jobs in finance industry worth 41% of class total

The finance industry’s centrality at Columbia Business School is all the more pronounced when you exclude sponsored students and focus solely on those accepting new job opportunities. In so doing, MBA jobs in finance represent 41% of the class total, up from 40% in 2014.

This same method puts the popularity of the consulting industry among students seeking new opportunities in an altogether different light. All told, the proportion of the class of 2015 moving into consulting is only a fraction behind that of the finance industry, at 35%. However, subtracting sponsored students takes this proportion down to 29% this year, a full 11 percentage points behind finance.

A little less significant as a hiring destination then, perhaps, but consulting seems to be increasingly appealing to students at CBS. That 29% figure is up from 21% in 2013. As with salaries in investment banking, the biggest area of consulting hiring – strategy/management – sees a rise in its median salary to US$140,000, after spending two years at US$135,000.

Fewer graduates in class of 2015 joining internet and e-commerce firms

Elsewhere, the proportion of the class of 2015 heading from Columbia Business School into a media and technology (treated as one area) career is down this year, from 14 to 10% - or, if you prefer, from 16 to 11% when excluding sponsored students. (Incidentally, sponsored students at CBS are down this year from 13 to 9% of the class total). The fall in media and technology is most clearly visible in the area of internet services and e-commerce, which takes 5% of MBA graduates this year, down from 8% in 2014. Interestingly, salaries are also down here, from a median of US$115,000 to US$111,000. The class total moving into consumer products, on the other hand, has recovered from a moderate fall in 2014 and rises from 5 to 6% in 2015, the same proportion as was seen in 2013 and one that now attracts a median salary of US$105,000, up from US$102,000 last year.

Steady rise to number of entrepreneurs at Columbia Business School

The growing levels of interest shown by MBA students the world over towards both entrepreneurship and socially-responsible business practices haven’t gone unnoticed at Columbia Business School, which launched a new hub for social enterprise at the start of the year. The number of students starting their own companies directly after graduating is also increasing steadily. In 2013, 2.4% of the class total eschewed the traditional search for MBA jobs to start out on their own – matching the average found across North America in QS’s new MBA ROI report. However, at Columbia, that number has since risen to 3% in 2014 and to 3.7% in 2015.

Among class of 2015 members seeking new positions, 97% have been offered a job within three months of graduation and 93% have accepted an opportunity. The lowest salary accepted by any member of the class (including sponsored students) is US$56,000 and comes from the healthcare industry, the median for which is a much more robust US$118,000. The highest salary, meanwhile, is reported by a graduate who will work in the consumer products industry and will be paid a base figure of US$320,000, more than three times this industry’s 2015 median of US$105,000.