USA Today – Former JPMorgan Chase private banker Adam Bernstein dropped out of Wall Street two years ago to pursue an MBA degree at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.
Today, four months before the class of 2006’s cap-and-gown ceremony, the Hanover, N.H., campus is covered in snow. Bernstein, 28, doesn’t have a job yet. But by the time he graduates, the demand for new MBAs is expected to be at the highest level since the Internet bubble burst a half-decade ago, according to college career counselors and recruiters.
Not only has the job market tilted in the MBA candidates’ favor, after several lean years, but many members of the class of ’06, including Bernstein, plan to shun traditional career paths with investment banking firms and management consultants. In their stead, they are looking for work with hedge funds, private equity funds, technology companies and venture capitalists, each of which is an emerging force in global markets and in campus recruiting.
“They may not be hiring 50 to 100 people,” like the major Wall Street banks, “but they’re hiring a few here, a few there, that don’t hit the radar but in aggregate are significant,” says Steve Pollack, president of recruiting consultant WetFeet, which recently advised its clients to become more aggressive at courting top MBA candidates or face losing them to competitors.
