Do You Have an MBA? 6 Things You Can Try To Increase Your Chances To Get a Job in Technology

So, you love technology and you happen to just have graduated from an MBA program? Technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft seemed to have more interest to hire you than ever before. Google has far more to offer than just their famous food programs. The technology giant, and two other technology companies (SAS Institute and Salesforce) made it into the top 10 list for the 2015 Fortune "100 Best Companies to Work For". So there are good reasons to be excited about tech.

Now as MBAs seem to be on top of the list for tech companies to recruit, students are starting to mirror their interest. In an interview with TopMBA David Morris, head of corporate sectors at the career center for the London Business School (LBS) explains that at his school there is both: “We have a great interest from the students as well as from the companies hiring MBAs from the school into the technology sector. If you look at the numbers of internships and permanent positions you can see that in 2008 only 7% have done an internships in TMT (Telecommunications, Media and Technology). Last summer the number went up to 30%. For this year I expect it to be very similar”. For permanent positions the number grew from 8% of students who ended up in TMT in 2008, to 24% in 2013, he says.

But what does it take to get the job in the technology sector? The data of the Global QS TopMBA Jobs and Salary Trend Survey revealed some interesting insight of? Below we summarized for you what we have learned from the data specifically for the technology sector.

For 2014, Which Tech Companies Rated the MBA Specialisation "Innovation" the Highest?

Interactive Data Visualization:
We included high-tech and IT employers from the TopMBA Trends survey that were asked to rate the importance of MBA specializations and filtered out the companies that rated Innovation as most important (in magenta). The scale ranges from 0 (= no answer), over 1 (= least sought specification) to 4 (= most sought skill). Currently the largest technology companies such as Apple, Samsung, Google and Microsoft are among the list for 2014.
You can sort the companies according to a low to a high ranking by clicking on the headlines on the x-axis or on the y-axis.

1. Technology Employers Are Interested in Innovators and True Leaders

The insights from the TopMBA Jobs and Salary Trend Survey data suggest that the biggest global technology companies are seeking MBA graduates with specifications such as leadership, innovativeness. For the tech sector least important is currently corporate social responsibility as a specification. For your job hunt in 2015, if you have the luxury and gained experiences as a business leader or with an innovative tech startup it may be worthwhile to make these skills stand out on your resume.

Graphic:
Innovation & Leadership were rated as most important specialisation to Tech & IT Employers

According to the results of the TopMBA Jobs and Salary Trend Survey, Technology and IT employers do value leadership and innovation highest among MBA’s specifications. By a similar token, the interest in entrepreneurship as a specification strongly increased from 2013 to 2014.

2. Make Your Interpersonal Skills Shine

Secondly, if you are looking for a job in a technology or IT company two of the most sought skills include interpersonal and communication skills. According to a NCBI scientific source interpersonal skills include complex communication, social skills, teamwork, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to deal with diversity. Dale Carnegie, an American writer and lecturer who created famous courses in corporate training advised to those who wanted to win friends and influence people that it would help to be a good listener, that one should not criticize, condemn, or complain and to trying to see things from the other person’s point of view would help too. So if you happen to be one of the lucky ones who have gained a soft skillset, show it.

Graphic:
Innovation & Leadership were rated as most important specialisation to Tech & IT Employers

At LBS, David Morris says that he tells MBA students to do their research if applying for a technology company. In addition he strongly advises to go out and talk to people and to build networks. Whether it is his advice to go to events, to hackathons, to pitch events or different conferences connecting and listening to new people while building these new relationships might offer students new possibility to gain new interpersonal skills as well.

3. Apply with a MBA Degree!

Graphic:
Global High-tech & IT Companies Hire MBA Students Over Master or Bachelor Degree Students.

Data from the survey for electronics, high technology and IT/Computer service employers also revealed that the technology employers expressed more interest in hiring MBA graduates than Master or undergraduate degree students. This development seemed to have been stable across the period from 2011 to 2014. So one way to improve your chances is to apply with a MBA degree in the first place.

4. Don’t be Convinced That Only a Technology Background Gets You Hired

According to the TopMBA report it has become common for engineers and technology managers to take an MBA to help progress from a technical to a managerial position. David Morris however says that he thinks that one don’t have to have a technology background to get the foot into a tech company. “It really depends on your background the technology company might looking for in the role. And this can range from experiences you gained in a consumer company, which then could benefit a technology company in their various sales verticals”.

The data speaks its own language. Looking at only the technology companies in the survey across the years except of 2013, roles where offered to MBAs in IT and technology functions. This is in line with the reports assumption that technical people return to technology companies after their MBA program. In addition, the IT and technology sector was one of the few that could increase the number of functional roles offered to MBAs. It increased from 21% in 2013 to 25% in 2014.

Graphic:
IT and Technology functions have been offered most often to MBAs across tech companies (click on the graphic to access the interactive version).

David Morris adds to this. He experienced that tech companies that come to him for MBA graduates look for students who have built up knowledge and skills to deal with data and the interpretation of it. “This means that students who have them are able to take new roles on and convince with their variety of different backgrounds on all sorts of roles”, Morris says.

Interviewed: David Morris
Head of Corporate Sectors, Career Centre, London Business School

5. Bring Your Individual Background to the Table and You May Expect Even Greater Rewards

Salary and bonus compensation is a separate discussion. In 2014/15, among the 22 industry sectors employers were categorized in Technology ranks on 6th position with an average salary of $94,950, but on 12th position in terms of bonuses. In response to these figures David Morris explains that this would match with his calculation for compensation for students who join leadership MBA programs at tech companies who have these programs in place. “But sometimes when MBA graduates manage to get into direct open market hiring roles, salaries levels may vary drastically. The compensation level for those roles can really vary according to the individual’s experiences that the student can bring to job”.

So even the average salary currently ranks behind industries such as metals and mining or in the energy sector, if you can manage to be hired into the technology sector via an open market role and you can meet specific requirements of the role your compensation might be far above the average figure.

Graphic:
Looking only at salary and bonus data for tech companies the level of compensation increased over the years as shown in the trendlines(click on the graphic to access the interactive version).

6. Get Your MBA from a Leading Business School or Relocated to Asia

Some of the leading business schools have experienced that more of their students join technology companies instead going into the financial or consulting sector. One example as we have seen is LBS. Another is UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. The school currently ranks on 6th position for best average MBA salaries in the US with $117, 738. The annual report of the school reveals that from last year’s class almost half of all students (43.5%) went into the technology sector.
What have LBS and UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in common? They are both leading business schools and the schools have close relationships with locally based technology giants such as Google and Amazon.

Graphic:
43.5% of last year's MBA class from UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business went into the technology sector after graduation.(click on the graphic to access the interactive version).

David Morris says that one of the biggest advantages his Business School has is the “London advantage”, as he calls it. “We are connected with the London Technology sector, and those students who come to us are highly connected to that industry. We also do trips to places like New York, Berlin and Silicon Valley to connect students with those technology companies and ecosystems." According to the data from TopMBA one of the best region you could possibly be in when looking for a job at a tech company as an MBA is Asia. The estimated demand calculated from the base (the actual recruitment demand level in 2010) demand expectations in the Asian Pacific region (in green) grew from an estimated 29% in growth for 2012 to 77% in 2016. As Asian companies grow the demand for smart and flexible MBAs increase too. One example is “Baidu”, some have already titled it the “Google of China”

Graphic:
The Asian Pacific region is increasingly demanding more MBAs.(click on the graphic to access the interactive version).

For the coming two years the data suggests that demand for MBAs in technology will grow strongly in the US and Canada region too. On average, tech employers hired 56 MBAs in 2010. The average estimate across tech and IT companies for 2016 is almost doubled as high, with an estimated average number of 100 MBA hires. If you can wait a bit longer and you are based in the US or Canada then the data suggests that your chances for a job in tech will increase too.

About the author:

Ben Heubl is a data journalist from London. You can find him on Twitter.