Putting the “Spotlight” on Business Analytics as a Career Option
Information Sessions. Mini flash cases. Career Conversations. These are just a few of the ways that the Babson Graduate Center for Career Development (CCD) has engaged with its Employer Partners over the past year, but this spring, a new kind of engagement arose – the Industry Career Spotlight.
On February 3rd, 10 companies gathered in Knight Auditorium to take part in the first ever Graduate CCD Industry Career Spotlight which centered its theme around Business Analytics. Dean William Lamb kicked off the event with some introductory remarks about the importance of Business Analytics as a recently added concentration at Babson followed by an overview of the Business Analytics curriculum by Professor Dessilava Pachamanova, who teaches in the undergraduate, full time MBA and evening MBA programs, and co-designed Babson’s undergraduate and MBA Business Analytics concentration curricula. Ninety-eight percent of employers believe business school graduates need to know how to use data to drive decisions, according to the 2013 “Year-End Poll of Employers” by the Graduate Management Admission Council.
So what is an “Industry Career Spotlight”, you might be asking, and why would an employer want to attend? The Spotlight is a 2-hour program consisting of employer & student small group conversations followed by more focused networking. The purpose of the Spotlight event is to both share more information about roles at a company and, in this case, to help employers build a pipeline of talent for business analytics opportunities.
During the first part of the Spotlight event, employers from a variety of industry sectors, rotated tables every 10-12 min with a new group of 5-6 students, offering a brief overview of the company, the culture of the firm, the position responsibilities (if applicable) and what a typical day is like. Firms also spent a few minutes talking about the type of candidates they were looking for and answered any questions that the students had.
Participating companies were not required to have internship or full-time openings, but as luck would have it, many discussed short and long term needs with the graduate student population. Industries represented included: Healthcare/Life Sciences, Consulting, Technology, Media, Insurance and Banking. Companies who attended include:
- athenahealth
- Boston Consulting Group
- EMC
- GE Healthcare
- Harte-Hanks
- Havas Media
- Liberty Mutual
- Oracle
- Santander
- Trip Advisor
During the 2nd half of the event, students were able to conduct more targeted conversations with employers. Each company was assigned a high-top table which gave the students a chance to continue a conversation with an employer that was part of their small group rotation or meet some new employers that were not a part of their rotation. Employers commented that they liked this format as it allowed them to gain access to a larger and more diversified pool of students versus having a basic Information Session and a potentially much smaller number of attendees.
Attending this event were Graduate students including full-time MSEL and MBA students as well as Certificate in Advanced Management, Evening MBA and Blended Learning MBA students who were looking to break into the field. Students were provided a list of the companies attending along with job descriptions where applicable. With over 70 students in attendance, employers had the unique opportunity to see many different sides of the Babson talent pool in action.
To learn how the Industry Career Spotlight program can help your company and for additional ways to partner with us, please contact the Graduate Center for Career Development and ask to speak with one of our industry experts. We look forward to helping you continue building your brand on the Babson campus!