Consulting Rules the Roost at INSEAD While Annual Mean Salary Touch $ 103,700

Consulting continued to rule the roost at INSEAD claiming 46% of the Class of 2016 while the graduates reported having received an overall Annual Mean Salary of US$ 103,700 and an overall Annual Median Salary of US$ 102,500.

INSEAD described as a “remarkable achievement” the fact that 89% of the December 2015 and July 2016 graduates having secured employment within 3 months of graduation, considering the intensive nature of the 10-month global MBA programme and the macro-economic uncertainty in some of the traditional sectors and geographies.

“This year, our students chose exciting roles with more than 300 different employers in 68 countries, which represents by far the most global and diverse reach of any top MBA programme. This is made possible thanks to strong employer relations with nearly 600 companies and an alumni network

of more than 52,000 in more than 170 countries,” Graham Hastie, Interim Global Director, Career Development Centre and Associate Dean, Degree Programs, said.

The employment report shows that in terms of career change, nearly 80% of the class changed one dimension of sector, function or country, with 27% of the class making simultaneous changes in all 3 dimensions. Those going into Consultancy registered a marginal increase of 3% from the previous year and 34% had returned to their former employers in this sector.

Corporate sector took 21% of the class, with increases in the healthcare, manufacturing and retail / consumer / luxury sectors, a welcome growth to cushion the downward trend in hiring within the energy sector.

The technology/media/telecommunications and financial services sectors accounted for 19% and 14% respectively. Similar to previous years, 6% of became entrepreneurs.

The average base salary at US$103,700 was at US$2,000 (1.9%) fall over the previous year. Hastie attributed it to changes in exchange rates that saw local currencies depreciate by 3.6% against the Dollar in 2016.

Removing currency effects, average base salaries actually increased by 1.7%. Median sign on and performance bonuses remained in line with previous years’, at US$22,800 and US$22,300 respectively, he added.

Hastie said 2016 was a very good year for the INSEAD MBA, starting with the program taking the #1 slot in the Financial Times global MBA ranking. Forbes had ranked the program for the highest return on investment and to the success of the students and alumni in securing the #1 global employment rates.

For the first time, INSEAD had also offered a personal career coach to every MBA student. This initiative has been a great success, with a take-up rate of 97% and very positive feedback from students, he added.

Among the major recruiters were McKinsey & Co., Boston Consulting Group, and Bain & Co claiming 29.8% of the graduates. McKinsey employed 125, up from 102 in the previous year. BCG’s tally was 67, down from 72 in the previous year. Bain took 48, down from 52 in 2015.

Financial Services Technology, Media & Telecommunications comes next at 14%. Amazon, Microsoft and Google were among the dozen top employers.

As far as career changes are concerned, 78% changed sector and/or country and/or function while 27% changed all three dimensions. While 48% changed country, 52% changed sector and 63% changed function.(Image source:wikipedia.org)