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The class of 2009 entered the job market in the midst of the global recession. So how did they fare?
GMAC’s 2010 Alumni Perspectives Survey shows that 84 percent of ’09 alumni of graduate management education programs had jobs by the time they graduated. That’s about 4 percent lower than in each of the past four years—but still a strong showing in a challenging market.
As for compensation, employed alumni from the class of 2009 reported a median salary of US$66,694 and a mean salary of US$70,938 on their first job after graduation. While salaries were down slightly from those reported in last year’s alumni survey, two-thirds of the 2009 respondents (66 percent) say their salary met or exceeded their expectations.
Among other survey findings:
- European and Asian citizens faced a tougher labor market compared with US citizens, with 76 percent of Asian and European respondents finding employment upon graduation, compared with 87 percent of their US peers. Similarly, a greater proportion of US citizens (33 percent) considered the global economy stable or strong at the time of the survey, compared with 19 percent of Asian and 20 percent of European respondents.
- While the class of 2009 received fewer job offers than classes in previous years (1.9 offers on average in 2009 vs. 2.7 in 2008, for example), forthcoming GMAC data show that by certain measures the economic impact of the current recession is not as severe as that of the last recessionary period, 2002-2003.
- More than half (58 percent) of employed alumni indicated their first job was definitely the kind of job they were looking for; 34 percent said it was somewhat like the job they were looking for. These figures are similar to those from recent years (2003-2008), when between 55 percent and 66 percent of alumni indicated that the post they took was definitely the kind of job they were looking for.
- More than three-fourths of alumni (78 percent) indicated their graduate management degree was essential to landing a job once they left graduate school, a percentage that is also on par with previous years.
- Among the alumni from the class of 2009 who were unemployed, 76 percent still believed that their education had prepared them for their professional careers.
- The primary reasons cited by the class of 2009 for their inability to find a job included a lack of relevant industry or functional experience (45 percent) and lack of job openings for which to interview (39 percent). In addition, 34 percent felt that they have not found a job because they lacked work experience.
- Among those from the class of 2009 who were employed, 79 percent worked for an employer and 5 percent were self-employed.
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