This Article was written By Julia Kryzan
As a result of COVID-19, unemployment across the globe has increased at a staggering rate and job markets have become more difficult to penetrate. According to the Pew Research Center, within the first three months of the pandemic, the unemployment rate increased more than it did during two years of the Great Depression. As a result, universities across the country are investing in new programs that prepare their MBA students for this shifting, and highly competitive job market.
“Tech recruiting this fall was definitely more competitive than it has been historically,” said Annelies Paine, a second-year MBA Student and President of the Hi-Tech Association at USC Marshall. “Due to the tailwinds created by the pandemic, more and more students have decided to pursue careers in tech, meaning MBA positions are extremely competitive.”
Over the past year, Paine’s leadership and strategy has adapted to better support club members, prioritizing building community and creating balance.
“[On Slack], we encourage students to share opportunities, community-focused virtual events like game nights, an increased social media presence, and the opportunity to receive club gear and swag,” Paine said. “We understand that Zoom fatigue is real and we’ve tried to spread events out more evenly and shorten them where possible, while still delivering the same amount of impact.”
Similarly, Tori Chang, a second-year MBA Student at the University of Michigan, and the President of the Tech Club has also changed her leadership strategies to help students feel less isolated by fostering long-lasting relationships with their peers.
“The serendipity of just bumping into people after class and just chatting in the hallway; those connections have been lost this year,” Chang said. “We wanted to be able to replicate that so we launched something called Tech Cohort.
The five most common recruiting functions: tech strategy, tech product, tech marketing, tech operations and tech sales, serve as the basis for how they connect students in the Tech Cohort program.
“It’s really to just try to allow people to find other people who are recruiting for the same cohort or the same function. Ideally this will facilitate a way to keep in touch and they’ll continue to share knowledge with each other and hopefully create stronger bonds,” Chang said.
While the pandemic has created many new challenges for how job seekers and employers interact during a job interview, it has also created more opportunities for students to network with peers and mentors through virtual “coffee chats” and “meetups”.
“We are able to connect with companies and alumni we may not have reached out to when many of our events were in person,” Paine said.
With the contraction of the job market COVID-19 has caused across the globe combined with the lack of face-to-face interaction with employers, students are reminded to be patient and utilize their connections.
“Do not underestimate the value of networking,” Chang said. “Networking has served me incredibly well. It really can propel you into the future, but even far beyond your time in business school.”
Both Paine and Chang remain optimistic about the future, despite its uncertainties.
“Company timelines and headcounts have definitely changed as a result of the uncertainty in the market right now,” said Paine. “There are lots of opportunities out there, but it may take longer to find the right one.”