Stanford MBA, with a strong legacy of encouraging entrepreneurial career pursuit, is a case study on the delicate balance between markets, opportunities, and the behavior of the MBA class.
Content
IMPACT of COVID on Entrepreneurship – Stanford MBA Placements
Top 3 Industries - Starting New Business (Stanford MBA) (2020)
Stanford MBA Placement – By Industry (2020-21)
Stanford MBA Placement – By Function (2020-21)
Stanford MBA Career Service Team – Effectiveness
Top 3 Industries - Starting New Business (Stanford MBA) (2020)
Stanford MBA Placement – By Industry (2020-21)
Stanford MBA Placement – By Function (2020-21)
Stanford MBA Career Service Team – Effectiveness
IMPACT of COVID on Entrepreneurship – Stanford MBA Placements
The 2020 graduating class achieved new milestones with a comeback of sorts to Entrepreneurship, with 18% of the class starting a venture – a feat achieved only in 2013. When you compare the trend with 2019, the jump is 3%. A greater measure of the ‘idealistic’ values that a Stanford MBA imbibes is the data on the industries where they started the ventures.
Top 3 Industries - Starting New Business (Stanford MBA) (2020)
• Technology - 33%
• Finance - 21%
• Healthcare - 12%
The top two industries neatly correlate with the post-MBA placement trends, only the position swapped, but it is the 12% starting ventures in Healthcare (a jump of 6%) - a direct reaction to COVID that gives hope that the brightest minds also have a strong moral compass on what they can do to IMPACT the world. The casuality has been Consumer Products that led the charts with 23% last year- now at 9%. Non-profit/Social Innovation that was the third popular industry last year was not mentioned in the latest report, perhaps a hint that the number was in the low single-digit. Technology remained the most favored industry for startups regardless of the market conditions.
Stanford MBA Placement – By Industry (2020-21)
Finance and Technology continued to be the top two industries for Stanford MBA graduates. The placement of Stanford MBA in Consulting couldn’t match the industry trends that had a boom year due to the drastic shift in work from home demands and the overhauling of the technology infrastructure. Consulting offers dropped by 20%, compared to last year, with the median base salary remaining at $165,000.
COVID, although, changed the entrepreneurial pursuits in Healthcare, had a negative impact on the full-time job placements with a 2% decline in offers but a 13% increase in median base salary to reach $170,000.
| Industry | Median Base Salary | Median Signing Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Finance | $175,000 | $34,500 |
| Technology/ Telecommunications | $140,000 | $22,500 |
| Consulting | $165,000 | $30,000 |
| Private Equity | $195,000 | $30,000 |
| Venture Capital | $195,000 | $25,000 |
Stanford MBA Placement – By Function (2020-21)
Private Equity and Venture Capital - A Favorite among Stanford MBA Graduates
Stanford’s strong consulting placement trend has been disrupted this year, with General Management, especially Strategy offers, attracting 17% of the total offers. The prized Private Equity offers continued to be a favorite among Stanford MBA graduates at 16% of the offers with the largest bonus at $210,000 on top of the median base salary of $175,000. Venture Capital offers were at $195,000 (median base salary) – the highest median base salary by function for the Stanford MBA 2020 graduating class.
| Function | Median Base Salary | Median Signing Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | $165,000 | $30,000 |
| Strategy | $142,500 | $20,000 |
| Finance | $175,000 | $25,000 |
| Private Equity | $175,000 | $25,000 |
| Marketing/Sales | $147,500 | $30,000 |
| Product Management | $150,000 | $35,000 |
Marketing/Sales, despite a below-median base salary of $147,500, attracted 24% of the offers while Product Management was the most popular sub-function within the specialization completing the trend of Management Consulting, Private Equity, Strategy and Product Management to be the popular niches in Consulting, Finance, General Management, and Marketing/Sales respectively.
Stanford MBA Career Service Team – Effectiveness
The 51% School-facilitated offers and 49% from graduates summarize the trend that as you go upwards and evaluate the top 5 schools, the influence of the career service team diminishes. The network that candidates bring to the school seems to be the ‘secret’ sauce when it comes to Stanford’s impressive 3-5% annual salary growth, contributing towards the school’s best post-MBA median salary. It was evident in the 36% of the offers that were facilitated through personal contacts of the candidates over 24% that was through the school network.
Related Services
• F1GMAT’s Career Planning Service
Related Books
• Stanford MBA Essay Guide
• Winning MBA Essay Guide
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