The Lion and Gun

This decline needs to be put in context. Some firms canceled because of market conditions. Others canceled because they perceive that Chicago students are not interested in their firms. Some decided that the number of individuals they seek is too small to warrant a trip to campus and so are opting for postings and/or remote interviews.

A few specifics around functions which do the majority of on-campus recruiting – and a little bit of background and some examples behind these changes:

In investment banking, Piper Jaffray canceled all recruiting events and interviews, and BMO canceled their second-year interviews. Blackstone has canceled on-campus interviews, but they have told us they will host selected phone interviews. UBS will host off-campus interviews for Chicago and they’ve posted openings for LA and San Francisco instead of conducting on-campus interviews for all. Houlihan Lokey is conducting videoconference interviews for their London office. Harris Williams canceled their on-campus interviews because they only received a couple of Chicago GSB applications. The net result is that we are down 34% in banking interview slots, but please don’t lose sight of the fact that several of these “losses” continue to seek Chicago talent.

In investment management, Copia Capital will wait until later this year to make any hiring decisions. Fidelity has canceled their equity quant schedule, and Fred Alger canceled after their interns accepted full-time offers. T. Rowe Price combined their International and Investment Analyst positions. The bottom-line is that we are down 30% in interview slots.

Marketing is also down – 20%. Many marketing firms made offers to their interns, those offers were accepted at unprecedented rates, and because of market conditions, they do not seek additional talent.

Consulting is up 4%. This is primarily attributable to little change in the “traditional” on-campus recruiters and a few smaller additions: the Everest Group and Ocean Tomo have recently been added as new recruiters.

Finance in a company is double what it was last year. Intel, FMC, Murex, Walt Disney – there are many additions in this function.

General management interview slots are up 43%: United Healthgroup, GE – much of this change is additional slots to existing schedules. These firms are hoping the downturn in other areas affords them the opportunity to hire talent which would have otherwise passed them by.

Please remember that the changing market conditions could mean an adjustment in your own job search strategy and possibly expanding your target list within the functions/industries you’re exploring to consider the full breadth of companies that are coming to campus, posting, and that you identify through your own research. There are 43 new firms coming to campus; some of these might not be familiar names, but they are good firms looking for strong MBA talent to hire for interesting roles. Be sure not to overlook job postings. Since September, we have posted 75 positions from banks, consulting firms, consumer packaged goods, and private equity firms directly targeting the class of 2009.

Don’t allow the increases cited above to determine your direction. For example, just because consulting is up, that does not mean you should head that direction. One on-campus consultancy reported a large uptick in applications, but in the end, it could not fill its closed list with candidates who really appeared to be interested in consulting and who met its requirements.

If you are interviewing on-campus in the upcoming weeks, keep in mind that your “volume” of interviews doesn’t necessarily translate to successful interviewing. Know yourself and the number of interviews in which you can truly perform well. Research companies thoroughly before you interview. Be sure you’re at the top of your interview game; consider doing mock interviews and/or talking through many of your responses to likely questions with your peers. Your interviewing skills might be rusty if you haven’t used them since last winter!

Please know that my team and I are eager to support you. If you are wondering how best to align your search with the marketplace, please come talk to us. You are talented, there is appetite for your talent and experiences – but you may need to be more creative in your approach. Let us assist.

We will keep you informed as we learn more, as the landscape changes.With all best wishes for next week, as the on-campus interviewing season begins.