I recently had a chance to read the book – How to Hire A-Players: Finding the Top People for Your Team. The A-Player Principle that was highlighted in book was “Just because people went to the right schools or worked for big companies in your industry does not make them A-players. Define the profile that works in your environment”
From a recruiter’s point of view, hiring decisions are costly and are made with certain assumptions, like:
1) Return on Intellectual capital
2) Minimum number of years that the candidate will work for the company
3) Potential for promotion from employee to partners
4) Contribution from revenue and team building points of view
5) Cost of hiring in case of attrition
Intellectual Capital
The first point is a factor that influences the hiring decision in favour of Ivey league school. Although, those days are over when recruiters blindly follow Ivy League schools, still the brand perception has not changed drastically. Recruiters are willing to pay high bonus and base salary for Ivey league MBA graduates based on the assumption that the Intellectual capital that each candidate will build for the company will compensate high cost. The network that an Ivey league candidate brings to the company is one factor that contributes in building intellectual capital. Other Ivey league students will pass their resumes to alumni and the company is likely to attract more Ivey league students. But is it the right way to go?
Ivey League MBA – Easily Influenced by Peers
The minimum number of years that candidate will work for the company and the cost of hiring to fill the position left by Ivey league students have forced recruiters to move towards 2nd tier MBA programs. Many successful Entrepreneurs and CEOs are from Ivey league schools. They have been successful in carving their own path. But most Ivey League MBAs are influenced by their peers – the money, the position and prestige of working in a big company. That is why the number of MBAs joining a well-known consulting firm or an investment bank never goes down below a certain number, even during a recession. But for other firms, the expectations are high from Ivey league MBA students – both in terms of performance and longevity in the company. Unfortunately, Ivey league students are influenced by the extra 50k that their peers are earning and are most likely to switch ships at the earliest possible opportunity.
Cost of Hiring
The cost of hiring a position, earlier filled by an Ivey league student is high, especially if the candidate has worked for 1-2 years. The initial period will be invested in training the employee and getting them accustomed to the inner working of the company. If the candidate switches ship during 2nd year, the company has to invest lot of time re-training the new recruit. More importantly finding the right candidate during off-season (time when MBAs are in the initial foundation module) can be costly.
Curriculum and Internship
Recruiters are now looking at 2nd tier MBA programs that have customized their curriculum according to market demand. There are many schools that have redesigned their curriculum and have included electives that allow students to customize their profile according to recruiter’s demand.
Working well within a company’s environment is another factor that influences hiring decision in favour of a candidate. To reduce the risk, internship opportunities are provided for MBA candidates. If you can meet the goals and work within the company’s framework, you are most likely to get a permanent job opening in the company.
Before you pick a 2nd tier MBA program, here are some points to keep in mind:
1) Make a list of companies recruiting from the school
2) Find out how many people were recruited from each company. Make a chart like this:
Company A Recruited Interview Attended Hit%
(Recruited/Interview Attended)
3) List the profiles of previously recruited MBA candidates like:
Age/Nationality/Pre-MBA Exp/MBA GPA
28/Canadian/5 yrs. exp in Consulting with Engineering Background/3.2
4) From the listed profiles, find out how many of them have similar profiles as yours
5) Find out the probability
Total Recruited Profiles: N
Similar Profiles Recruited: n
Chance of Getting in: n/N
6) Find out the internship opportunity
7) How many interns were given permanent position
Total Interns: X
Total Permanent Position Offered: x
Permanent Position with Similar Profile Xn
Chance of Getting in: Xn/X
For Further research visit MBA program list
About the Author
I am Atul Jose, Founding Consultant of F1GMAT, an MBA admissions consultancy that has worked with applicants since 2009.
For the past 15 years I have edited the application files of admits to the M7 programs: Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, the Wharton School, MIT Sloan, Chicago Booth, Kellogg School of Management, and Columbia Business School, together with admits to Berkeley Haas, Yale School of Management, NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, Duke Fuqua, Darden, Tuck, IMD, London Business School, INSEAD, SDA Bocconi, IESE Business School, HEC Paris, McCombs, and Tepper, plus other programs inside the global top 30.
My work covers the full MBA application deliverable: career planning and profile evaluation, application essay editing, recommendation letter editing, mock interviews and interview preparation, scholarship and fellowship essay editing, and cover letter editing for funding applications. Full bio with credentials and admit history is here.
I am the author of the Winning MBA Essay Guide, the best-selling essay guide covering M7 MBA programs. I have written and updated the guide annually since 2013, which makes the 2026 edition the thirteenth.
The reason I still write and edit essays every cycle: a good MBA essay carries a real applicant's voice. Writing essays for F1GMAT's Books and Editing essays weekly is how I stay calibrated to what current admissions committees respond to.
Contact me for school selection, career planning, essay strategy, narrative development, essay editing, interview preparation, scholarship essay editing, or guidance documents for recommendation letters.