MBA Job Report: Harvard Business School

The number of Harvard MBAs taking jobs overseas is at an eight year low according to HBS’ 2014 Employment Statistics.

Median salaries up 5%

The median base salary for Harvard’s MBA class of 2014 is US$125,000, up 5% compared to last year. The amount of other guaranteed compensation has also risen to US$34,700 for 2014 compared to US$30,000 last year.

Finance MBA jobs on the rise

While it should come as no surprise that finance is the most popular industry for Harvard’s MBA class of 2014, the percentage has gone up significantly compared to last year. This year, 33% of HBS graduates took jobs in the finance industry, a 6% increase compared to last year.

As with Stanford GSB, the increase in finance jobs at HBS is due (at least in part) to more acceptances for MBA jobs in private equity. Private equity/venture capital/leverage buyouts was the most popular finance job category, accounting for 15% of jobs for the HBS class of 2014. This is a 5% increase over last year.

The increased popularity of finance also may be reflected by the 3% increase in Harvard MBAs working in New York City, home of Wall Street. This year, 23% of Harvard MBAs chose to work in the Big Apple compared to 20% last year.

There was also a (very) slight uptick in the percentage of HBS MBAs working in consulting – 1%, to be exact. This year, 23% of HBS graduates took consulting jobs compared to 22% last year.

Hedge fund salaries up by 20% 

Hedge funds and private equity proved to offer the highest MBA salaries for 2014 HBS graduates, with both industries offering up a median base MBA salary of US$150,000. In terms of private equity, this salary is exactly the same as it was last year. For hedge funds however, the median MBA salary has gone up 20% compared to last year’s figure of US$125,000.

The 2014 median base consulting MBA salary of US$135,000 is the same as it was last year.

Number of Overseas MBA Jobs at Eight Year Low

The percentage of HBS MBAs taking jobs outside the US has gone down from 17% in 2013 to 16% in 2014. While this 1% decrease may not seem like much, it puts the percentage of overseas MBAs at the lowest it’s been in eight years.

Europe is the region that has seen one of the biggest decreases in HBS MBA jobs. While the percentage of HBS MBAs in the UK remains steady at 5%, overall, only 6% of 2014 HBS grads got jobs in Europe compared to 8% last year. This number is also the lowest it’s been in the past eight years. The previous low was 7% in 2010 and 2014.

Harvard’s 2014 MBA class is also the first one since 2006 with no students taking jobs in Brazil.

HBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.