MBA grads not immune to job loss

Although armed with a master’s of business administration degree, College of Business graduates struggle to secure jobs.

The trend parallels the meteoric rise of the unemployment rate in the United States during the last year.

The overall unemployment rate in Ohio as of September is 10.1 percent – the 14th highest rate in the country. In September 2009, the unemployment rate of people 25 years or older with at least a bachelor’s degree was 4.9 percent, up from 2.6 percent in September 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

MBA graduates at the University of Cincinnati are facing similar problems in the job sector this year.

As a result of the economic times, the availability of employment is drying up for those around the city, due to corporate cutbacks and failing family-owned businesses.

UC’s MBA students also feel the tightening of corporate belts.

“The economy has clearly had an impact on MBA employment,” said Susan McCord, the associate director of career services. “Many companies cut back on their internship program.”

A staple of UC’s post-graduation preparation method is the internship program and the ability of its students to gain career-oriented experience in the job market.

“The MBA program does strengthen your resume versus those who simply have a bachelor’s degree,” said Dustin Grutza, a sixth-year student and former Bearcat quarterback, who is getting his MBA at UC, “but the availability of jobs is still a worry.”

This year, Ohio’s private sector, which encompasses most jobs available to MBA program graduates, had an additional 120,835 layoffs, according to the BLS. The data includes the financial, management and many other sectors of the job market.

For the last five years, students graduating from the university on average have an 84 percent job-placement rate within three months of walking out the door with a MBA, McCord said.

Now, students are facing a 20 percent decrease in job offers from companies, according to statistics supplied by the university’s career services department. Of the MBA students in the graduating class of September 2009, 64 percent have secured jobs.

“We are hopeful that number will go up by the end of November,”
McCord, said.

In order to help students, UC offers a program called Graduate Career Services, which provides many resources to assist MBA and Master of Science Business students with career planning and the job search processes.