The Wharton School: Class of 2015 Employment Report

The number of MBA graduates from the Wharton School’s class of 2015 who are taking jobs in finance and consulting has risen this year, after both industries had experienced falls in recent years.

After a fall of three percentage points last year, the numbers taking post-MBA jobs in consulting have now risen by a single point to make up 26% of the class total. The situation is identical in the Wharton School’s most popular post-MBA destination – the financial services. Here, a one percentage point rise on 2014 ensures that the industry now accounts for 37% of the class, stopping a slide that had been ongoing since 41% took to finance in 2012. The biggest rise within finance comes in an area described as ‘diversified financial services’, which has increased its proportion of hiring from 1 to 3% in 2015.

Rises to consulting and finance are countered by a fall in Wharton MBAs moving into technology this year. Whereas roughly one in seven graduates (14%) joined technology companies – mostly in the internet services subsector – in 2014, that number has now dropped back to 11% - the same proportion the industry held in 2013.

Outside of these top three areas of hiring, the picture is fundamentally one of consistency. Healthcare maintains a 6% proportion, even as the number within this bracket joining pharmaceutical and biotech firms has risen from 2 to 3% of the class of 2015 total. Those taking up MBA jobs with consumer products or retail firms are down a fraction and now represent 7% of the class.

Salaries for post-MBA jobs remain largely stable

The overall median base salary at Wharton is unchanged for the third year running, at US$125,000. Indeed, MBA salary levels achieved by those moving into consulting haven’t budged from US$135,000 since first reaching this threshold in 2012. However, there are US$5,000 rises to the median levels seen in both finance and technology this year. Finance is up to the class average of US$125,000, while the median seen across the technology industry is now US$120,000. Falls in median salaries are reported for those entering MBA jobs in manufacturing (US$125,000 to US$110,000 this year) and media/entertainment (US$120,000 to US$117,500). However, even when taken together these industries account for just 4% of the class of 2015, approximately.

New figures suggest international students more likely to stay in US

As we have seen at both Harvard and Stanford this year, the number of Wharton graduates beginning their post-MBA careers outside the US has fallen once again. Among the class of 2015, 16% have taken international positions – a percentage that represents less than half of the class’ proportion of international students (35%). This is down from 19% in 2014 and from 22% in 2011 when, in each case, the class composition of international students was 37%. In Stanford’s case, the fall in MBA jobs taken overseas this year was attributed to greater numbers of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses outside the US. However this may not be applicable at Wharton, where only 4% of the class total reported not seeking employment due to starting a new business or being self-employed, compared to Stanford’s 16%. A more likely explanation is that more international students at the Wharton School are finding better opportunities in the US and are happy (and able to secure the requisite visas) to stay on. Of course, it is an oversimplification to assume that international students are the most likely to seek positions abroad – after all, QS research consistently tells us that around half of MBA applicants worldwide base their choice of study destination on where they would like to work thereafter.   

New York City dominates job locations for class of 2015  

Regardless, New York City sees by far the most notable rise in job locations within the US. Almost a third of students in the class (31%) have taken MBA jobs in the Big Apple this year, up from 25% last year. Approximately one in 10 will now work in San Francisco, a fractional rise on last year, with 3% heading to each of Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Boston and Seattle. Among those who have taken jobs outside the US, Asia and Europe are the most popular destinations, with 3% of the class journeying to London in the UK and 2% to Beijing.

The Wharton School’s class of 2015 employment report relates to a total of 826 full-time MBA students, of which three-quarters were seeking employment. From this number, 95% had accepted a job offer by mid-September and 98% had received a full-time offer.