Stanford GSB alumna, Sita Meek, explores the extent of the automotive tech’s expansion as an attractive industry destination among recent MBA graduates
If your impact on the world is a key factor in your choice of employer, it’s a great time to look for post-MBA opportunities. Current MBA classes are filled with millennials, who famously don’t only look for financially attractive opportunities but also want impact, an ethical approach, and work-life balance or flexible times at the very least.
I believe some of the emerging industries MBAs have started to enter can provide these factors better than industries graduates have traditionally flocked to.
Recent growth in the automotive tech industry
I have recently observed a trend among my classmates: 15 people out of my class of 400 (Stanford GSB MBA class of 2016) ended up going into automotive tech, transportation or autonomous vehicles after Business School (a snapshot three years on from graduation) myself included. I don’t think any of us expected or aimed to go into automotive when we first started Business School. It was definitely not considered a ‘hot’ sector, even just a few years ago. But, thanks to Uber, Tesla, GM’s Cruise Automation, and many others, it is now booming. Not all of the opportunities in this industry has a positive effect on the world, but there is ample opportunity in the space if this is of interest to you.
I have also seen first-hand that automotive tech and sustainable mobility are evolving quickly and have attracted increasing public attention over the past one to two years. When I started at B2B vehicle telematics software company Masternaut in 2016, we were fighting for journalists’ attention and the market was largely talking about car models. Now, magazines write about electrification, emissions and AI. Similarly, when we exhibited at the Paris Motor Show last October, the main topics were electric vehicles and sustainable mobility. As a company that tracks 3 billion data points each year and gives customers certificates for their CO2 performance, it now feels like the company fits right into the public dialogue for the first time since its launch in 1996.
But I wasn’t sure whether my experience is part of a bigger trend, or if it’s a more temporary blip that seems larger to me because I’m smack in the centre of the bubble.
Tracing the industry destinations of recent Stanford GSB MBA cohorts
So, in good MBA fashion, I made a chart. I looked at all employment reports of Stanford GSB MBA classes since 2011 to see if my trend was visible.
The good news is yes, the sector destination of ‘transportation and logistics’ is growing rapidly. It only started to merit its own category among post-MBA industries among Stanford GSB alumni recently – the category first appeared in 2015. Since then, it has grown from attracting 1% of alumni to 3% of alumni among the class of 2017. The scale of growth in both transportation and non-profit was very visible when I indexed the figures by setting the 2011 values to 100% in order to show the change over time (or, in the case of transportation, 100% was set at the time of first appearance in 2015).
The bad news, however, is that the proportion of MBAs overall that decide to go into transportation, non-profit, and cleantech is still minuscule when compared to traditional industry destinations.
The ‘usual suspects’ of finance and consulting are still extremely popular, at about 30% and 20%, respectively (although consulting has suffered over time), while tech has catapulted itself from the low teens to a stable 25-30% of Stanford GSB’s graduating class.
The perfect second post-MBA job?
What does this mean? So far, it still looks more like a leading indicator and not a big trend among GSB graduates – the data is less pronounced than my qualitative view would suggest. However, MBAs are known to be more risk-averse than they need to be given their high employability (and the risk-seekers tend to start their own companies these days). I would also invite you to consider the growth of some of the aforementioned automotive tech companies, the amount of recent news coverage, as well as the consideration that any ‘non-traditional’ industry might not be the safest bet for a first post-MBA job for any graduate trying to pay off loans or make up for foregone income – but it might be a great choice for ‘MBA+2’ job switchers.
Emerging industries need to boost their appeal among the newly minted
I think the leading indicator is there, and it’s real. It’s just early. Now, our job as leaders in industries such as automotive tech is to make entry straight out of an MBA programme attractive – to highlight the impact and pace, match the benefits of tech and consulting in terms of career prospects, and make the industry as low-risk and financially sound a decision as possible.
I fully respect everyone who decides to walk the consulting, finance or tech paths. However, I also want to encourage current MBA students to look at the exciting trends that lie somewhat hidden in the 3-5% range. I do believe that innovative companies tackling transportation, health, food and fintech challenges are currently the most exciting ‘non-traditional’ employers, and your opportunities there will lead to great stories.
Sita Meek is Global Marketing Director at Masternaut and a Stanford Graduate School of Business MBA Class of 2016 alumna.
