2012 reports published by the MBA Career Services Council (MBA CSC) and the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC) indicate that the outlook for MBA hiring is very positive and expected to increase in 2012 and beyond.
The MBA CSC (an association composed of MBA career services and recruiting offices and companies that recruit MBA students) recently released their Spring 2012 Recruiting Trends Survey Results which indicates that a majority of business schools reported an increase in on-campus recruiting activity for full-time positions compared to 2011. Specifically, the survey notes that 51% of responding business school career offices reported an increase in on-campus recruiting and 69% reported increases in full-time job postings. Recruiting activity in the consulting and technology sectors showed the largest increases, while recruiting in financial services decreased. 72% of the responding schools also expect internship opportunities to increase this year as well.
Information reported from the GMAC in their 2012 Corporate Recruiters Survey seems to support these positive recruiting trends. 79% of the corporate recruiters responding to the GMAC survey stated that they planned to hire MBA graduates in 2012 (up from 72% in 2011), and on average they plan to hire 17 MBA graduates per firm (compared to 13 in 2011). The largest increases in recruiting seem to have come from companies in the United States and the Asia-Pacific region.