MBA Job Prospects 2009

Graduates from Canadian MBA Schools are fairing well despite the Economic Turmoil

According to a recent article from the Financial Times Canadian MBA graduates are facing a much better job market than those graduating from American schools. While US business schools are reporting hiring drop offs as high as 50% from previous years, Canadian schools are seeing drop offs in the 5-15% range. Obviously, it would be better to see hiring levels increasing over previous years, but if the hiring trends continue, Canadian MBA hiring in 2009 would be on par with 2005 levels.

A major reason for the huge drop off in US hiring is the tough times faced by major banks and financial institutions. Canadian banks, through tighter regulation, have fared much better over the last year and are in a strong position to hire new grads. As the FT article mentions, the Canadian banks are able to attract higher level talent this year, compared to previous years.

So while the news coming from the US may seem all doom and gloom, there is a reason for some optimism from recent Canadian MBA grads. Over the next couple of years, its more difficult to predict how Canadian grads will fare compared to their American counterparts, but barring a Made-in-Canada economic collapse, it would be hard to see Canadians grads trailing well behind Americans in hiring rates.