New Grads Enjoy Strong Job Market

The graduating classes at Berkeley-Haas this year are enjoying strong employment opportunities, with salaries and job postings increasing for MBA students and internships proving ever more important in launching Haas undergraduate careers.

MBA Employment

Graduates from the MBA class of 2013 are landing positions with some of the world’s top companies as well as pursuing jobs in startups and impact investing.

Top hiring companies for new graduates so far include McKinsey & Co., Google, JPMorgan, Kaiser, and Amazon. Early employment data show that salaries and signing bonuses are continuing to trend up slightly and that the already robust job market remains strong. Additional top hiring firms include Deloitte Consulting, Samsung, Autodesk, Bain, Visa, Adobe, Microsoft, Zynga, and Prophet.

While strong hiring continues in traditional MBA areas, Lisa Feldman, executive director of the Career Management Group, notes some additional trends. “Real estate is a strong area for us this year, and we are also seeing a strong class of entrepreneurs,” she says. “In addition to the entrepreneurs themselves, we have a growing number of students exploring the impact they might have in smaller organizations and seeking experience with early-stage startups.”

Gilad Bonjack, MBA 13, is one such student. He’s joined Voxer, developer of a walkie-talkie application for smartphones, as product manager and one of the first 50 employees. "I love the ever-evolving tech industry and especially work that allows me to change the way people communicate,” says Bonjack, who originally hails from Israel. “Working in the Bay Area is the dream of every tech enthusiast, and I'm grateful that my experience at Haas led me here.”

Another growing area of interest for Berkeley MBA students is impact investing. Rakesh Apte, MBA 14, will join the investment team at the Eleos Foundation, a social venture capital organization based in Santa Barbara. “I’m passionate about promoting social entrepreneurs who are using market forces to solve some of the world’s toughest problems,” Apte says. Apte notes that Haas’ commitment to the social venture community was “instrumental in helping me attain this dream job.”

MBA Internships

Most members of the class of 2014 have begun their summer internships. Top hiring companies for internships include Deloitte, Google, Samsung, McKinsey, Visa, and Adobe.

Bernice Wong, MBA 14, used contacts in the Haas Alumni Network to land a business development internship with The RealReal,, a startup that resells luxury-brand clothing and other goods. “To me, the fashion industry is a great intersection of artistry and business,” says Wong. “I see The RealReal as the leader of an up-and-coming generation of resale online platforms that promote more sustainable consumption in fashion.”

Undergraduate Employment

The undergraduate employment market has steadily improved over last year for Haas undergrads, according to Tom Devlin, director of the UC Berkeley Career Center. “All employer sectors aggressively recruit Haas graduates,” says Devlin, “with finance, accounting, and consulting dominating the recruiting landscape.” Devlin says that he has also seen growing interest outside of the “ABCs” (accounting, banking, consulting), with more students interested in fields such as marketing.

The major trend, Devlin notes, is increased hiring of summer interns with intent to convert successful interns to full-time hires. “In fact, a number of employers have indicated that 80 percent of their full-time hires come from their internship program,” says Devlin. “The junior year has emerged as the new senior year among competitive employers.”

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