The Career Impact of a Chicago Booth MBA

How an Evening MBA or Weekend MBA student chooses to leverage their MBA to advance their career varies, but the ROI of a Booth MBA remains the same. Each year, our Career Services team produces an employment report, which tracks career changes upon graduation and one year post-graduation from the Evening MBA and Weekend MBA Programs. 

Our current report reflects data from those who graduated in 2018 at both the time of their graduation and one year post-graduation. Of those seeking a career change, 89 percent of students made one. Students who advanced or changed positions at their current company totalled 29 percent. Of these students, 68 percent received promotions, often even before they graduated, demonstrating the value of their Booth degree. The majority of change seekers (68 percent) moved to a new organization. These students cited industry (45 percent), function (42 percent) or geography (22 percent) as the reason for this change. The entrepreneurial bug also bit some of our students—three percent started their own companies.

Students work across a breadth of industries, ranging from Government and Law to Energy and Transportation. Nearly a third work in Financial Services, where Diversified Financial services (9.0 percent), Investment Banking/Brokerage (8.6 percent), and Investment management/Research (7.7 percent) lead the pack. Technology is a fast-growing sector with 17.1 percent of our students, specifically led by eCommerce and Internet (7.0 percent) and Software (5.7 percent). Finally, 11.9 percent of our students work in Consulting—our third largest industry segment—followed by Marketing (9.9 percent) and Product Management (6.8 percent).

In this most recent report, a total of 172 organizations either promoted or retained students. Many students chose to advance to new positions; 184 organizations hired our students during this period. 52.5 percent of those students found their new position via a school facilitated opportunity, which was most often reported as being through Booth’s job posting/resume referral services, alumni contact, or campus recruiting. 47.5 percent of students report obtaining their position through direct contact at a company, via a non-Booth contact or company website/external job board.

Booth’s Career Services provides a full suite of education and support modeled on best practices for career success, teaching students lifelong career skills, including learning how to leverage your current experience and new MBA skills to tell your story during outreach, networking, and interviews. Students build skills through 1:1 coaching and programming to support a proactive, networking-driven job search strategy. As a result, students are set up for success at every step of their Booth journey and beyond. Along with experienced career coaches, a robust employer relations team maintains active company relationships as well as cultivates new firms and MBA opportunities for Booth students across all programs.

Ultimately, as a student at Booth, you’ll have access to an extensive array of career resources, including staff, alumni, and fellow students, who are invested in helping you reach your goals. From individual career coaching and alumni career advisors, to a myriad of networking opportunities, you will have the support to make your dream—whether a career change, a promotion, or the launch of a new business—a reality.

For more information on Chicago Booth’s Career Report, visit our most recent Career Impact Report.