How UF MBA achieved the No. 1 ranking for career services
Executive Director of Business Career Services Craig Petrus breaks down the winning formula for helping UF MBA students get great jobs.
Executive Director of Business Career Services Craig Petrus.
A significant aspect of any business school’s overall success is the strength and reputation of its career services office and the students who take advantage of the programs and services it offers. Having the opportunity to call yourself “best in the world” is certainly one way to validate one’s success among the top business schools around the globe. Here at the University of Florida-Warrington College of Business, we can do just that.
With the recent release of the Financial Times’ Global MBA Rankings for 2021, the Warrington College of Business Business Career Services office was ranked number one in the world among top MBA programs across the globe. Among several areas that make up the methodology of the Financial Times ranking is the assessment of career services and its “effectiveness of the school’s career service for career counseling, personal development, networking events, internship search and recruitment, as rated by their alumni.”
Achieving the number one ranking in the world is no easy task and takes a fierce commitment to achieving an exceptional student career services experience. Results like these can only be attained by having the right mix of team members, an impactful career and professional development strategy, a consultative approach to talent acquisition for the companies that recruit at Warrington and a committed student body to make it happen.
With 50+ years of private-sector work experience specifically within talent acquisition, consulting, and human resources, combined with 50+ years of academic career services experience, the Business Career Services team achieves instant credibility among our students based upon our prior work experience. Having walked the halls of the private sector and imparting our knowledge of what we have learned goes a long way in the eyes of our students.
Developing the right career and professional development strategy has had a significant impact on the overall success of Business Career Services and our students. Having been former Executive Recruiters, Consultants, and Human Resources Executives, our team knows how campus recruiters and hiring managers think and what they want to see in our talent. We coach them on the important skills needed to be successful during the interview process, along with those needed to be successful leaders on the job.
The individualistic career coaching approach that Business Career Services delivers to students goes a long way in developing an impactful relationship between student and coach that is the hallmark of Business Career Services. Our students have come to realize that our coaches will work just as hard as they do and are just as committed to the process as they are in helping them achieve their goals during their career exploration journey in Warrington. This is why we are number one.
Establishing close relationships with students has had a direct effect on the relationships that Business Career Services has established with the companies that recruit them. Positioning ourselves as “talent acquisition consultants,” the BCS Career Coaches are in a unique position to advocate on behalf of the students and communicate their value proposition to the companies that recruit Warrington talent. Companies who consistently recruit our talent each year are used to engaging in strategic conversations with our coaches about why our students would be a great fit for their organization and the skills they bring with them. This approach goes a long way in the eyes of our recruiters and their effort to zero in on the right talent for the positions they are hiring for.
As is the case with any successful business or entity, one needs to possess a winning mentality, a strategic and impactful strategy, and surround yourself with the right team to execute it. This is the winning formula for how Business Career Services at the Warrington College of Business became number one in the world.
