Survey: Large Wall Street Banks Are Hiring Again and Remain a Top Employment Choice for MBA's

NEW YORK, May 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Business school graduates still want to work for large, Wall Street financial institutions and are regularly receiving job offers from traditional, bulge bracket firms.  That's a key finding of a new survey by Training The Street (TTS), a leading corporate training provider for a majority of Wall Street firms and top business schools.

The survey, which measures the employment trends among business school students at the top 25 MBA programs, finds that an overwhelming 69% of respondents received an internship and/or job offer, and 39% have received more than one offer.  More specifically, 60% of second-year MBA's secured a full-time employment offer.  76% of first-year MBA's received a summer internship offer, which is most often a precursor to full time employment the following year.

The survey also shows that an overwhelming majority of MBA candidates – both first and second year students - view their current job prospects positively and want to work on Wall Street despite the recessionary and market events over the last two years including the collapse of Lehman Brothers. 40% of respondents say large institutions are their preferred places of work.  80% of survey respondents say they are optimistic about their employment prospects after graduation.

"Our survey further suggests that Wall Street is on the upswing," said Scott Rostan, Founder and Principal of Training The Street. "MBA's are looking for and being sought after by the larger Wall Street firms, despite the negative press and the pervasive idea that these firms aren't hiring.  If anything, these firms are hiring aggressively."

The TTS survey also shows that recruiters from big firms are once again actively recruiting on business school campuses. 57% of respondents say that large financial institutions are the ones most actively trying to recruit them.

Other findings include:

• After bulge bracket banks, 36% of respondents say boutique firms are actively recruiting, suggesting excellent growth opportunities at the middle market and micro cap level. 29% say consulting firms are actively hiring as well.

• 58% of respondents say they obtained their upcoming positions through on campus recruiting, while 34% say they conducted their own job search.

• Only 7% of respondents have not yet been invited for a single interview.  77% have been invited for between one and ten first-round interviews.

• 59% of respondents expect their starting salaries to be $100K-$125K.

• 97% of respondents are between 21-34 years old, and 82% are male.

"Although our survey reflects the views of candidates from the nation's top 25 MBA programs, these findings still bode well for candidates at other schools and financial institutions," said Chirag Saraiya, Principal at TTS.  "There are opportunities for MBA's across many sectors, and students have every reason to be excited about graduating and landing a great job."  

About Training The Street

Training The Street (TTS) is the world's leading provider of instructor-led courses in financial modeling and corporate valuation training to Wall Street investment banks, business schools, and top colleges. With offices in the financial hubs across the U.S., as well as an office in London and India, TTS boasts a deep field of expert instructors and extensive practical experience.  Currently, TTS is offering live training programs to interns, analysts and associates at more than 50 banks and corporate businesses, including Wall Street's ten largest banks, as well as 23 of the 25 highest ranked MBA programs in the nation.

SOURCE Training The Street