MBA Class of 2020 Faces Tough Summer or Worse as Recession Looms
Business school students preparing to graduate risk ending up unemployed or having to settle for lesser roles.
Rob Melick, an MBA student at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, had lined up half a dozen meetings for a mid-March venture capital conference in California co-sponsored by his school, hoping to make connections that would help him land a position in the technology or financial services industries. When the event was canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, those meetings were moved to phone calls or online, via Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangout.
How the virus changes recruitment—and the overall labor market—is weighing on Melick and his fellow students, though he says he feels reassured that companies haven’t delayed any conversations with him. “There is a lot of stress and concern among classmates,” says the 32-year-old, who’s at home in Bloomington, Ind., preparing for lectures and coursework set to resume remotely at the end of the month.