For the first time in the last five years, the Broad College’s Full-Time MBA reached a 100% employment rate: every student in the Class of 2021 secured a job before or upon graduation.
“There are many reasons for prospective students and professionals to choose Broad — our expansive alumni network, top-ranked programs, renowned faculty and the student body’s interest in rolling up their sleeves and collectively challenging one another to absorb as much knowledge as possible during their brief tenure at MSU,” Richard Saouma, associate dean for MBA, EMBA and professional master’s programs, said. “The MBA program’s 100% employment rate this year is as much a testament to the institution as it is to our students’ grit.”
The Broad MBA is known for its smaller class size, multiple teamwork opportunities and culture of excellence.
The Broad MBA has seen a 90% average employment rate for the past 10 years. What made things unique for the Class of 2021 was the students’ engagement with the Russell Palmer Career Management Center after navigating unexpected change due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These students had a tough internship-seeking time — many had offers rescinded when the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020,” Marla McGraw, director of career management at the Palmer Center, said. “Following that summer, we saw very high engagement numbers in our career events; students were participating in greater numbers than we have had in the past. They were dialed in to the advice and the programming, and because they followed our recommendations, there was success.”
McGraw said the core team at the Palmer Center also helped hit the high employment rate — including Tony Mara, senior associate director, Pam Mars, associate director, Shinta Shintawati, associate director for global education and outreach, Penni Vandecar, recruiting manager, and Bronti Ziolkowski, event/communication manager.
The team helped facilitate individual advising appointments, #HireMe sessions, alumni panels, peer coaching and mentoring opportunities, in addition to pivoting career fairs to a virtual format. The Palmer Center also worked to distribute digital resume books, which deliver resumes of job-seeking students directly to target employers.
“The recipe for career search success is made up of the programming, courses and resources offered by the Palmer Center. That, combined with a very experienced, dedicated and passionate team, as well as our focus on delivering ‘Green and White Glove Service’ to all of our stakeholders, creates a terrific foundation,” McGraw said. “When students are engaged and actively participate in the opportunities we offer, the outcomes are fantastic!”
Saouma added, “The Palmer Center has essentially developed a universal approach — granted, there is always light customization for each program — but I am incredibly confident in saying that their process applies to all our students, helping them best articulate their value-add and ultimately land that dream opportunity post-grad.”
Triumph in tech industry
Doubling down on this victory for MSU, Poets&Quants recently ranked the Broad MBA No. 2 for employment in the tech industry — a first for the program.
“The No. 1 school is Washington Foster, which is in Microsoft and Amazon’s backyard, whereas the No. 3 school is the UC-Berkley Haas School of Business in the Bay Area,” Saouma said. “Despite the lack of a home-court advantage, our students and alumni have consistently gravitated to the tech sector, where their business acumen, pressure-tested team management skills and intellectual curiosity have been met with wide arms and to great success.”
Ensuring this reputation holds for current students, the MBA program and BusinessBecause (a subsidiary of the Graduate Management Admission Council) hosted a webinar this month to feature prominent Broad alumni and their advice for building a career in tech.
Students from the Class of 2021 visited Google’s headquarters during the 2020 Tech Trek.
Mike Maglio (MBA ’14), people consultant at Google, and Jason McLean (MBA ’14), chief of staff at Splunk, called out how the Broad MBA’s smaller class size, multiple teamwork opportunities and the culture set students up to work and lead in the tech sector. They outlined the critical skills needed to be successful in tech and how these skills are developed along the banks of the Red Cedar.
“In this webinar, our alumni Jason McClean and Mike Maglio, along with the Broad MBA’s managing director, Wayne Hutchison, spoke about the importance of the Broad MBA curriculum,” Andrea McHale, director of graduate admissions and enrollment for the Full-Time MBA — and an alumna of the program — said.
“The classes that our students take support their post-MBA career success. The impact of the Broad College Palmer Center management team and the engagement of our active Full-Time MBA alumni network create opportunities for our students to launch their careers in tech and other desirable fields.”
Strengthening ties to the tech industry further, the Broad MBA program offers an annual Tech Trek, in which students spend their winter break touring tech giants, gaining insights into careers with top companies and networking with alumni along the way.
With these strides and more, the Broad MBA remains a world-class program and shows how all Spartans can build a strong future and succeed upon graduation.
