It’s been said you can’t wring your hands and roll up your sleeves at the same time. When the jobs picture looked the bleakest over the past year, both our students and our career services team chose to get very focused and smart. The result of that mature response is seen in vastly improved prospects for our students this year, as the Texas economy continues to set the pace in the U.S.

Last year was enough to churn the stomach of any student, parent or school administrator. Deans lie awake at night, I can assure you. Employers were earnest but light on offers, and a familiar refrain was, “Are schools preparing students for jobs that don’t exist?”

This year, Stacey Rudnick, director of MBA Career Services, and Velma Arney, director of Undergraduate Career Services, report:

• 42% of full-time MBA students (second-years) currently have job offers (compared to 24% this time last year)
• On-campus MBA recruiting visits are up 23% over last year
• Undergraduate recruiter bookings are completely full for spring/summer 2011, with top employers heavy in the mix

We’re seeing a consulting and banking resurgence, and energy remains a strong sector. Arney reports that energy firms are coming to the school with more diverse job offerings, from HR and marketing to supply chain and operations. And with these stronger opportunities are higher starting salaries.And career placements for our top-rated MPA accounting program continue to roll along as strong as ever.

McCombs #7 in Nation for Career Success

Bloomberg BusinessWeek just released a ranking of Best MBA Programs for Job Placement for 2010, placing McCombs 7th in the nation for career placement success. According to their measures, we had the largest turnaround (2009 to 2010) in job placement offers of any of the top 30 MBA programs.

I just received this note from Ryan Oliver at GE:

“As a proud alum, and the lead recruiter for GE’s ECLP program, I’m happy to report that McCombs students continue to represent the school well. Additionally, the McCombs alumni at GE are setting the standard for alumni involvement.”

Oliver reports his pleasure at the level of engagement shown by our students who recently interviewed at GE:

“I would like to recognize these students from the Full Time, Evening and Houston MBA programs, as they showcased their experience, leadership abilities and potential in fine fashion.”

He also praises first-year MBA students who took part in a case competition hosted by USC, as part of GE’s internship recruiting effort:

“The (McCombs) team, coached by Kathleen Voboril, faced off against three teams from USC and three teams from Notre Dame, and they won the competition. We couldn’t have been happier.”

With reports like this from our employers, it is no wonder we are seeing a strong rebound in hiring.

MBA+ Projects Are on the Rise

The Texas MBA micro-consulting projects are another good indicator of corporate involvement with our students, and Deidra Stephens, director of the MBA+ Program, reports that MBA+ saw 90 projects offered in fall 2009 and spring 2010, compared to 72 in 2009 and 46 in 2008.

For students, the news is upbeat: Your business education is going to pay off. Career services team: You never resorted to the wringing of hands, and for that we’re all grateful.