斯坦福MBA毕业生的新求职策略

    斯坦福大学（Stanford）2012届的MBA毕业生进入职场后的平均起薪（含奖金）约为140,459美元——比薪酬最高的哈佛大学（Howard）MBA毕业生的平均工资只少了2,042美元。但最近有趋势显示，六位数的工资可能正在逐渐失去往日的吸引力。MBA毕业生现在追求的是更模糊、更变幻无常的目标——成就感。

    斯坦福大学商学研究院（Graduate School of Business，GSB）进行的一项职业与就业趋势调查发现，学校千禧年的商学院毕业生选择了个人发展，放弃了以往能够提供高额薪资的大公司所提供的机会。斯坦福大学商学研究院就业管理中心主任普林•赛格威表示，二十年前，MBA毕业生主要选择的是潜在雇主的品牌和声誉，他们更偏爱华尔街和咨询公司。学生们想当然地认为这些工作能给他们的简历增加份量。

    但现在，MBA毕业生却致力于创建自己的个人品牌。赛格威称，他们更愿意花更长时间，找那些虽然薪酬较低但却能为他们提供强化其商业技能和真实体验的工作。尤其是创业公司，吸引了越来越多的MBA毕业生。他补充说：“这些学生并不认为，创业公司必须要上市，否则就是浪费时间。相反，他们认为，他们可以从中学到如何创办一家公司，如何招聘，以及如何将公司上市。”

    有一些学生避开了传统雇主，转而选择自主创业。自2011年以来毕业的斯坦福商学院学生，有13%至16%选择了自己开公司，而在十年前，这个比例仅有10%。2004年，仅有7%的毕业生计划创业。

    人们很容易就认为，这一代学生不关心风险。但赛格威却并不这么认为：“他们非常清楚风险。但他们也明白，虽然事件风险可能很高，但长期风险相对较低。”而且，在这个过程中，MBA毕业生们可以掌握下一次再开公司时所需要的关键技能。

    这种转变在斯坦福形成了一个新流行语——尖刺一族（spiky）。“尖刺一族”MBA学生特别擅长三到四种独特的技能，让他们在所有人中脱颖而出，而不是做一个样样稀松的普通学生。赛格威说：“我们希望学生围绕他们最擅长的东西打造自己的专业身份。”这些学生走入社会后会寻找那些独一无二、专业性强的工作。

    而在目前严峻的经济形势下，要找到这样特殊的职位无疑非常困难。但赛格威表示，市场却越来越支持这种方式。过去，MBA的工作主要集中在几个行业，甚至只集中在几家最受欢迎的雇主那里。现在，他们可以驰骋的舞台越来越大，也越来越多样化。

    统计数字佐证了赛格威的观点。2012年，斯坦福大学786名MBA毕业生被367家机构聘用。学校81%的雇主仅聘用了一名MBA学生，只有1%的雇主聘用了五位或超过五位MBA毕业生。赛格威说：“看着（就业）统计数据，人们可能会认为，现在的毕业生没有赶上好时代。但实际上，这是学校历史上最有积极影响力的时代。学生们拥有大把机会，他们可以根据对他们来说最重要的因素，来选择最合适的职业。”

    Stanford MBAs graduating in 2012 waltzed out of school and into career opportunities with an average starting salary, including bonuses, of $140,459 - just $2,042 shy of the average salary scored by the top-paid Harvard MBAs. But recent trends indicate that six-figure salaries may have lost some of their sheen. MBAs are now in pursuit of a mushier and far more fickle goal -- fulfillment.

    A study of career and employment trends by Stanford's Graduate School of Business found that the school's millennial B-school graduates are choosing personal development over opportunities with traditional hiring heavyweights, which typically pay the big bucks. Twenty years ago, MBAs focused on the brand and prestige of potential employers, with a tendency to favor Wall Street and consulting firms, says Pulin Sanghvi, director of Stanford GSB's Career Management Center. Students rightfully assumed these jobs would add luster to the resumes.

    Now, however, MBAs are focusing on building their personal brands. They're more willing to search longer for lower paying jobs that provide an opportunity to bolster their business "tool kits" with down-and-dirty experience, Sanghvi says. Startups, in particular, are drawing more MBAs. "There's not the attitude that this company has to be an IPO or it's a waste of time," he adds. "Instead, students are realizing that they'll learn how to build a company, how to hire people, how to take a company public."

    Some students are eschewing traditional employers altogether and striking out on their own. Since 2011, between 13% to 16% of Stanford B-school graduates have opted to start their own companies, compared with a 10% average for most of the previous decade -- in 2004, only 7% of graduates planned to launch entrepreneurial ventures.

    It's easy to assume that this generation is simply less concerned with risk. But Sanghvi doesn't see it that way: "They're aware of risk. But they also understand that even though the event risk may be high, the longer term risk isn't that high." And, in the process, these MBAs stand to gain critical skills for starting their next company.

    This shift has also spawned a new buzzword at Stanford -- spikiness. Spiky MBAs specialize in three or four unique skills that make them stand out, as opposed to being just mediocre at a lot of things. "We want students to build their professional identifies around a few things that they can be the best at," Sanghvi says. These spiky MBAs then go out into the world in search of unique and specialized jobs.

    Finding that special role is undoubtedly a rough road in a tough economy. But the market is increasingly supportive of this approach, Sanghvi says. In the past, MBA jobs were aggregated in a few industries and then concentrated even further to just a handful of sought-after employers. Now, the playing field is larger and more diverse than it has ever been, Sanghvi says.

    The numbers back him up. In 2012, Stanford's 786 MBAs were hired across 367 organizations. Some 81% of the school's employer base hired just one MBA, and only 1% of the employer base hired five MBAs or more. "If you look at the [employment] statistics you might conclude that this is a scary time to graduate, but honestly this is the most empowering time in the history of the school," Sanghvi says. "Students have so much opportunity that they want to find the right fit that's consistent with what matters most to them."