Many MBAs have been increasingly looking to the technology sector for a high paying position that puts their full skill-set to use. Roles in product and project management have become increasingly popular, and jobs in the tech sector overall are sharply on the rise.
If you are considering using an MBA to pivot from your current industry into a large technology company, it might be a good idea to understand which schools big tech recruiters are hiring from.
While it may be a no brainer that tech companies recruit heavily from MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, and Carnegie Mellon, it may surprise some to learn that Washington’s Foster School of Business places the largest proportion of graduates into tech jobs.
| School | Tech Industry Hires | Median Base Salary | Median Sign-On Bonus |
| Washington (Foster) | 52.0% | $113,2418* | $28,000* |
| UC-Berkeley (Haas) | 38.8% | $125,000.00 | $25,555* |
| Carnegie Mellon (Tepper) | 33.5% | $117,000.00 | N/A |
| Texas (McCombs) | 33.0% | $107,044* | $25,000* |
| Stanford Graduate School of Business | 33.0% | $95,075.00 | $15,000.00 |
| MIT (Sloan) | 29.3% | $120,000.00 | $25,000.00 |
| UCLA (Anderson) | 28.3% | $113,703* | $24,899* |
| Notre Dame (Mendoza) | 27.1% | $110,000.00 | N/A |
| IE Business School | 25.0% | N/A | N/A |
| Northwestern (Kellogg) | 22.0% | $120,000.00 | $25,000.00 |
| Michigan State (Broad) | 21.9% | $95,075.00 | $15,000.00 |
| London Business School (LBS) | 21.0% | $93,408* | N/A |
| Michigan (Ross) | 20.4% | $117,000.00 | $27,000.00 |
| Harvard School of Business | 19.0% | $125,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| Duke (Fuqua) | 19.0% | $117,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| INSEAD | 19.0% | $99,500.00 | $21,100.00 |
| Indiana (Kelley) | 18.7% | $103,000.00 | $20,000.00 |
| North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler) | 18.0% | $111,000.00 | N/A |
| Virginia (Darden) | 17.0% | $114,722* | $29,472* |
| HEC Paris | 17.0% | N/A | N/A |
| Chicago (Booth) | 16.7% | $125,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| Dartmouth (Tuck) | 16.0% | $96,000.00 | $25,000.00 |
| IESE | 16.0% | $74,500.00 | $20,817.00 |
| Georgetown (McDonough) | 14.0% | $101,464* | $25,000* |
| Vanderbilt (Owen) | 13.0% | $110,500.00 | $25,000.00 |
| Pennsylvania (Wharton) | 12.6% | $120,000.00 | $30,000.00 |
| Cornell (Johnson) | 12.0% | $118,085.00 | $27,498.00 |
| Yale School of Management | 11.7% | $120,000.00 | $29,999.00 |
| Minnesota (Carlson) | 11.0% | N/A | N/A |
| New York University (Stern) | 9.6% | $117,000.00 | $33,835* |
| Emory (Goizueta) | 9.0% | $107,500.00 | $25,000.00 |
| Columbia Business School | 7.1% | $120,000.00 | $33,840.00 |
- Source: Poets & Quants
European Schools
Tech companies are also recruiting heavily from top European business schools, and if you are interested in a tech career in Europe, LBS, INSEAD, HEC or IESE may be the best bets. Employment in the tech sector by school is as follows:
- LBS: 21%
- INSEAD: 19%
- HEC Paris: 17%
- IESE: 16%
According to Poets & Quants, an MBA from INSEAD yields the highest base salary, US$99,500, with a median sign-on bonus of US$21,100. Next is LBS, which reported a mean base salary of $93,408; and IESE, at median US$74,500 (and a median bonus of US$22,202).
Positioning yourself to pivot from one sector to another requires a great deal of thought and effort about how to craft your story. Tech companies are hungry to hire qualified young talents in the workforce, but how do you show business schools, other graduate programs, and the companies themselves that you are a perfect fit for one of these high paying and prestigious roles?
If you would like to chat through these and other questions, and start to think about how to position yourself for success, please feel free to reach out to us at Info@TranscendAdmissions.com.