By Arial Starks
The MBA job recruiting process is multi-faceted, requiring candidates to dedicate much of their first-year fall to landing a great internship, which could in turn lead to a full-time job. Recruiting is different for each student, but there are many resources that students can use to their benefit. Emily Anderson, Senior Director, Career Management Center at Vanderbilt Business, walks us through what candidates can expect during the MBA recruiting timeline.
Career Exploration
Emily Anderson
Once students arrive on campus, they should be prepared to hit the ground running with recruiting efforts. Some students will begin their own career exploration in the summer, but as a whole, Vanderbilt MBA candidates will normally start the recruiting process in early September (school begins in August). Anderson says students should be spending 15-25 hours weekly towards recruiting.
“MBA recruiting is a time commitment,” Anderson said. “Think of it as an additional class or part-time job.”
Students will spend the initial stages of recruiting learning about different companies in their desired fields. Company representatives visit campus in the early fall months to network with students and give presentations on general information about their respective organizations. From there, students will have the opportunity to have 1-on-1 coffee chats with these recruiters to gain more insight and ask any lingering questions they may have about the companies.
Resume Review and Recruiting Events
After students have had a chance to learn more about companies they’re interested in connecting with, they should work with their school’s career team on crafting their resumes. Vanderbilt students can attend CMC-sponsored workshops, case interview prep sessions, and coaching appointments during this point in the MBA recruiting timeline. These events help students navigate the recruiting cycle and teach them how to pivot when facing the unexpected.
“There are certain aspects of the recruiting process that students can control, including the preparation and how they present themselves, but there are also things that are way beyond their control like how many people these companies can hire and what’s going on in the general economy,” Anderson said. “While you may have a primary focus for your internship, you need a back-up plan.”
Students also have the opportunity to attend both campus and national recruiting events during the fall months to network with company representatives.
“There are many national recruiting fairs that occur in the fall anywhere from late September to early November that cater to several different groups of people, including National Black MBA, which is dedicated to the recruitment of African American business professionals, Prospanica, an advocate for Hispanic business professionals, and Reaching Out, the largest networking event for LGBTQ+ business students and alumni.”
Interviews and landing a Job
The timeframe for when a student should be ready to start interviewing with companies is dependent on their personal recruiting goals. Anderson emphasizes the importance of going into the recruiting process knowing what field you want to work in, because if you try to figure it out during the process, you may miss that industry’s recruiting window.
“Roughly 75 percent of Vanderbilt MBA candidates will interview with companies from January through March,” Anderson said. “The other 25 percent of students who are recruiting for jobs in Investment Banking and HOP will need to be prepared to interview with companies between Thanksgiving and winter break of the first year.”
Anderson also points to the types of opportunities you may come across during recruiting. They may not all be traditional internships.
“Instead of recruiting for a specific job, a lot of companies have developmental programs, like a leadership development program, that will serve as an entry mechanism for MBAs to enter the workforce,” she said. “They will train them up in these positions and then hire them once they have successfully completed the program.”
After dedicating nearly a year to recruiting efforts, MBA candidates will wrap up interviews and typically have returned decisions by the early spring. You can find Vanderbilt’s 2022 campus recruiting dates here. Click through below to see a visual of the MBA recruiting timeline.
