Most job postings go with the phrase “MBA preferred”. But why is MBA preferred? Employers have identified that the entire course of Masters in Business Administration is woven in such a way that students get exposure to various facets of real-life situations of a corporate organization. Since the course is case study-driven, it adds more value to the employer’s ROI.
MBA is for both — the right-brained creative thinkers, and the numbers-driven analytical type. B-School graduates are hired for their creativity and their ability to crunch numbers. Usually hired for mid-level roles, MBAs are considered to need less training compared to other professional courses.
However, an MBA program is effective only if the student is capable and talented enough to imbibe the learnings. Ideally, an MBA graduate is expected to exhibit the qualities like leadership; entrepreneurialism; and the ability to use data and analysis to solve complex problems, among others.
Across industries, the following traits have been ranked in the top 5 qualities. Leadership potential, executive presence, the ability to build external networks, and the ability to work independently. You might want to give weightage to each one of them based on your organizational needs and company culture.
Enterprise organizations value leadership potential and a candidate’s ability to use data to tell a story.
A survey by GMAC 2016 Corporate Recruiters Survey, suggested that company culture was consistently ranked the most important candidate trait that employers seek. The ability to participate in and build strong teams was ranked second in importance by companies located in Asia-Pacific and the U.S. For European companies.
A resume shouldn’t be criteria to hire, it should merely be a channel to reach the candidate. Look for depth in resume, not length. By that, I mean that you need to make sure there is some substance in it and not just random points from the candidate’s school days.
Campus recruitment must not be a last-minute effort. It must be thoroughly planned and executed. To achieve it, engage with candidates early on in their career; hold summits, immersion programs, and workshops at universities that focus on building leadership, critical thinking, problem-solving, and consulting skills or any other skills that you want them to hone in themselves.
Conduct competitions/hackathons during semester break to identify strong candidates.
At the end of one year, look for behavioral fitment with real business cases and get them to solve it for you. You can find out.
Offer internships to candidates from this group of candidates the following semester.
You now have very carefully chosen candidates that are ready to take on real responsibilities.
Choosing between these candidates can seem extremely difficult. At this stage look for candidates that have imbibed every theoretical and practical aspect. They will possess: Holistic understanding of business, Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving, Copes well with pressure, and cultural fitment.
As discussed earlier, the number cruncher or the creative thinker will possess these main skills. You can delve deeper with specific behavioral assessments provided by various vendors.
A study by GMAC projected that up to 75% of employers are interested in hiring MBA graduates this year. That means there’s a tight competition and you need to work hard to get the best from the left.
Everything out there has a crash course; there is a quick way to hire from b-school as well.
Interview candidates over video interviews and gauge their behavior with the video and written responses. Finally, give them a business case to solve and upload answers online. There are online tools that make sure candidates aren’t cheating. Make use of them to get authentic replies. Finally, meet them face-to-face and hire the best.