M.B.A. Pop Quiz: Are You Employable?
As More Emphasis Is Put on Job Placement, CareerServices Staff Sit In on Admissions Talks About
Prospective Students

MELISSA KORN Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2013
Want to get into business school? Be employable.
As schools focus more attention on their job-placement numbers, several M.B.A. programs are now
bringing in career-services staff to evaluate candidates for admission and set expectations for prospective
students on what the school can, and can't, do in an uncertain job market.
Business schools have long considered applicants' career goals, though admissions staff rarely sought input
from the career office on whether a particular candidate's aims were realistic. But when the financial crisis
upended the banking sector and sure-thing jobs on Wall Street disappeared, schools began formally tying
input (applicants) to output (graduates). The change also comes as prospective students are weighing the
potential return on an M.B.A. investment, and seeking assurances that a chosen school will propel them on
a desired career path.
Leigh Gauthier, the director of careers for the full-time M.B.A. at University of Toronto's Rotman School
of Management, last year began sitting in on committee meetings to help assess applicants.
Alex Lawrence, of UCLA's Anderson School of Management, says the school is including career
representatives at all of its domestic events.
Ms. Gauthier said she's looking to match student skills with industry need. For example, for an applicant
with a stated interest in consulting, she may pay particular attention to whether he or she can manage
ambiguity. She also seeks out candidates with strong interviews and leadership potential, a plus in both
classroom and corporate realms.
While she doesn't have veto power over an admissions representative's suggestion—about 10 people are
involved in each discussion—Ms. Gauthier has pushed the committee to "think more critically" about
borderline candidates, said Niki da Silva, director of recruitment and admissions for Rotman's full-time
M.B.A. She said Ms. Gauthier's input has bumped some students onto the wait list, or rescued others from
that no man's land. "There is some give and take," Ms. da Silva said.
Admissions and career services teams at University of Rochester's Simon Graduate School of Business
joined forces about a year and a half ago, as the school adapted to a job market that no longer favored its
finance-focused talent.
"Adversity has a way of creating motivation," said Mark Zupan, Simon's dean.
Bob Park, Simon's executive director of corporate relations and career management, now meets with the
admissions team at least twice a month. He provides data on which firms or industries are recruiting at
Simon. That information helps admissions officers understand which students might be most in demand
come graduation. He also shares files on recent graduates who fared particularly well to use as a guide
when selecting the newest cohort.
It's still too early to determine whether these moves will improve placement figures, but Messrs. Park and
Zupan said first-year students are expressing more interest in fields beyond finance.
Charles Johnson, a first-year M.B.A. at Simon, said he thinks the school's attempt to diversify students'
career paths beyond finance helped him land a spot there. So did the fact that Mr. Johnson wasn't interested
in breaking into an entirely new industry; the 29-year-old plans to return to a job in marketing after
graduation.
“Making employability too weighty a factor in the admissions process can backfire, deterring schools from
accepting riskier candidates.”
As recruiting creeps into the early days of the school year—on many campuses, interviews for elite
consulting, finance and management trainee positions begin just a few months in—schools have less time
to train students on interview etiquette or the art of the thank-you note. So career-services staff are
interviewing more applicants, stepping in, as Mr. Park's team has at Simon, when the admissions team is on
the fence about a candidate.
Mr. Park said he's particularly keen on assessing an applicant's presentation and communication skills.
In these interviews, career-services representatives judge how students may come across to corporate
recruiters. Amy Wittmayer, director of the M.B.A. career management center at University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School, for the past two years has trained admissions
officers to look for the same traits a hiring manager might, such as the ability to assess a problem and selfedit their remarks.
While the newly integrated admissions approach is mainly aimed at finding employable prospects, careerservices officers also provide a key reality check for applicants early in the game, says Graham Richmond,
a former admissions officer at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and founder of admissions
consulting firm Clear Admit.
This past fall, the new director of career services at University of California, Los Angeles's Anderson
School of Management began attending admissions events. After hearing positive reviews from applicants,
the school is including those representatives at all domestic events, said Alex Lawrence, UCLA's assistant
dean and director of M.B.A. admissions.
To be sure, making employability too weighty a factor in admissions can backfire. Looking at applicants
through a narrow vocational lens may deter schools from accepting riskier candidates, such as
entrepreneurs or career-switchers, in favor of more sure things, such as aspiring management consultants,
Mr. Richmond said.
Students with more audacious goals may be wary of sharing their real plans, too. For example, someone
who works in a family farming business and wants to expand the operation globally after school may
instead tell of a career plan that involves a middle-manager job at agribusiness giant Cargill Inc., he said.
"They'll play it close to the vest," rather than say they want to take a small business into a new market, Mr.
Richmond said.
Simon's Mr. Zupan admitted he is somewhat concerned about focusing too much on hiring during the
admissions process. "You want M.B.A.s to dream big, so it's a real fine line," he said.
Write to Melissa Korn at melissa.korn@wsj.com