Best business degree

Hiring the Best and the Brightest - Bookshelf: Books in Brief - written for students obtaining a master's degree in business administration - Brief Article

By Sherrie Gong Taguchi

Amacom, 2002

287 pages

List Price: $27.95

ISBN: 0-8144-0635-1

There are plenty of books written for MBAs looking to land their first jobs after graduation. But in Hiring the Best and the Brightest, Sherrie Gong Taguchi writes from the perspective of a corporate recruiter who wants to hire the cream of the crop.

"Even with the cooling economy and company downsizings, the demand for MBAs continues strong," the author notes. For example, Taguchi says at Stanford University's School of Business, where she is director of MBA career management, the number of companies recruiting on campus in 2001 was only 10 percent lower than the record level a year earlier. And, says Taguchi, the number of companies interviewing at Stanford remains significantly higher than the number of graduates the program produces.

Taguchi describes an MBA recruiting cycle that comprises four distinct phrases:

* Preparation. Determine the number of new MBA candidates and the areas of specialization needed, then identify target programs. Schedule all on-campus interviews by November.

* Pre-recruitment. In October, start hosting receptions, general employer information sessions and more narrowly targeted personal events.

* Interviews. Schedule on-campus interviews between October and April.

* Second-round interviews. Depending on the type of position and the number of candidates being considered, bring in candidates en masse or one at a time. These follow-ups provide an important forum for more thorough assessments.

Most companies tender offers to MBA candidates about two weeks after the second-round interviews. That is when the real wooing begins.