Duke Fuqua: Class of 2015 Employment Report

Finance has reasserted itself at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business (Duke Fuqua) this year with one in five members of the class of 2015 taking jobs in the industry, a rise of three percentage points on last year.

Finance’s rise takes it back to a level not seen since 2012 and relegates technology services - down from 20 to 18% this year - to third place among the most popular destinations for Duke MBA graduates. However, technology remains well up on the 10% reported in 2013.

The salaries on offer to those taking finance jobs are also up from a median base of US$100,000 to US$125,000 – a rise as pronounced as that seen at Michigan Ross this year.

McKinsey ramps up hiring at Duke Fuqua

However, although its median salary remains unchanged at US$135,000 this year, consulting is still comfortably Duke Fuqua’s number one industry destination. Almost a third (32%) of the class of 2015 is moving into MBA jobs in consulting, up from 30% this time last year. McKinsey, in particular, stands out among its latest list of top recruiters. The multinational firm has doubled its number of full-time hires this year, having hired 12 graduates in 2014 and just 7 in 2013. But, there are also increases in the number of Duke MBA graduates taken on by the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company this year. A list of those companies hiring five or more MBAs in 2015 is shown below:

Source: Duke University, Fuqua School of Business

Although technology is down, the table above does indicate substantial rises in hiring from tech firms Microsoft and Amazon.  The median salary for those venturing into the tech arena is also up, from US$112,500 in 2014 to US$120,000.

This amount is equal to the median base salary level for the class of 2015 as a whole, which is up from US$111,000 – a not insignificant increase of roughly 8% in the space of a year.

Outside of Duke Fuqua’s three most-popular industry destinations, healthcare suffered a slight decline from 9 to 8% of all MBA jobs taken by the class. The average healthcare salary is unchanged at US$110,000. Consumer goods also dropped a fraction, from 8 to 7%. However, the number of Duke MBA graduates taking jobs in manufacturing has doubled to 4% of 2015’s class total.

Value of Duke MBA internships underlined

How have MBAs at Duke Fuqua landed these opportunities? Well, over three-quarters of accepted offers (79%) originate from initiatives facilitated by the school, a healthy rise on the 72% figure given last year. Key within this bracket are MBA internships, which in the setting of a traditional two-year degree are taken over the summer between a student’s first and second year. The number of full-time offers whose origins lie here has more than doubled in the past year. Whereas just 14% of accepted offers came from school-facilitated internships in 2014, that number now stands at an impressive 38%, underlining the value of what for many is an integral part of the MBA experience.

Number pursuing MBA jobs in Latin America & Caribbean on the rise

Bucking a trend observed across a number of top US schools’ employment reports this year; graduates of Duke Fuqua are ever so slightly less likely to have taken MBA jobs within the US this year. That number is down from 85 to 84% of the class. Instead, a notable gain has been made in the number taking MBA jobs in Latin America and the Caribbean. The region has drawn 9% of the class of 2015, up from 5% in 2014. Mexico, which now accounts for 3% of jobs compared to just 1% last year, appears central to this rise. However, the opposite is true for Asia, a region whose proportion is down from 8 to 6% of the class total.

The school’s 2014/15 employment report covers the fortunes of 432 Duke MBA graduates, of which as many as 90% were seeking new employment opportunities. Of this number, 94% had accepted a job offer by early September – three months on from graduation. With the vast majority of Duke’s class of 2015 seeking new positions, the number reporting starting a new business at this immediate stage in their post-MBA career is noticeably low at just 1.4% of total graduates this year.