Participation is easy! Last year, 168 schools in 37 countries took part in this research. Their joint efforts contributed to a survey sample of nearly 23,000 employers from 13,000 companies, including Fortune 500 companies in the US and worldwide.

Schools that facilitate the survey receive exclusive access to timely market information courtesy of GMAC, EFMD, and the MBA Career Services Council (MBA CSC)—the three business school associations that sponsor this project. Employers that respond to the survey receive comprehensive survey findings and are eligible to win one of 5 prizes each equivalent to €1000.

All graduate business schools are invited to participate!

Project Timeline

December 1, 2010—Schools begin signing up for survey participation
January 21, 2011—Deadline for schools to submit contact lists
January 25, 2011—Deadline to notify GMAC if your employers prefer to respond in Spanish or  French
January 25, 2011—GMAC sends the invitation text and survey links to schools that will administer the survey individually
February 1, 2011—Survey launches
February 15, 2011—Reminders are sent to employers that have not yet responded
February 28, 2011—Last-call reminders are sent to employers that have not yet responded to the survey
March 1, 2011—Survey closes (this deadline will not be extended)
April 29, 2011—Target date for electronic report distribution to participating schools and employers

How the Survey Works

1. Your school agrees to facilitate the survey and designates a primary contact for all project-related communication.
2. Your school either provides GMAC with contact information for employers that recruit your graduates, or administers the survey with GMAC assistance, using your school’s internal resources.
3. GMAC sends a web link for the online survey to school employers.
4. GMAC addresses survey inquiries from schools and employers during the project duration.
5. GMAC provides participating schools and employers with complimentary comprehensive survey results. Note: We report information only in aggregate format. No individual school or employer data are released.
6. GMAC deletes all contact information of nonparticipating employers from its systems.

Instructions for Facilitating the Corporate Recruiters Survey

Survey Instructions for Schools [PDF] 

Why Should My School Participate?

Here are the top 5 reasons why graduate business schools worldwide take part every year in the Corporate Recruiters Survey:

#1 Benefit for your graduates. Robust data on company hiring trends from nearly 2,500 participating employers in early 2010, for example, allowed schools to advise their graduating class how to navigate the limited-job market and manage graduates’ employment expectations.

#2 Benchmark reports. Do employers work with your school in the same way as they work with other schools? Do they hire more or fewer students than other employers? GMAC can offer your school an individualized benchmark report with aggregated responses from your employers.

#3 Unbiased feedback. Employers are well aware where their responses go, who has access to them, and who sponsors the survey. Responding to a truly independent party reveals the actual picture.

#4 Gauging your market competitiveness. Are your school’s employers really yours? From how many schools do they recruit? How competitive is the job market for your students? An individualized Survey Database Analysis Report compares the recruitment overlap between your employers and other schools’ employers.

#5 Prizes for employers. Each year, five participating employers win a prize drawing for survey participants and praise the school that gave them an
opportunity to win. This year, each prize is equivalent to €1000 (one thousand European euros).

For More Information

For further details, please contact Marina Murray at +1 (703) 668-9728 or research@gmac.com.