MBA Insider: Careers Q&A July 17, 2008, 7:43PM EST

Berkeley-Haas Careers Q&A

UC-Berkeley's career services director, Abby Scott, discusses the services and direction offered to MBA students

Abby Scott
University of California at Berkeley

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Abby Scott has been executive director of MBA career services for the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley for eight years. As a veteran of Intel (INTC) and other tech companies, Scott knows how to use her experience to her department's advantage. She draws on her network of contacts in technology, financial services, and consumer products, and the school's reputation for innovation, to align like-minded students with the current tech boom. Scott also believes Haas's advantageous location—recruiters often don't mind traveling to California—and its students' reputations as creative thinkers and hard workers give it some insulation from the current economic downturn.

Scott says students are gravitating toward sunnier areas of the economy, including energy and tech—and the technology industry appears to be doing well in California—but other areas such as finance and consulting also draw a healthy number of Haas MBAs. Students are increasingly anxious about their job prospects, Scott reports, with some first-years contacting her in early June to get a head start on career preparation. But Scott says her department keeps a dialogue open with students and works to accommodate shifts in student interest and hiring patterns. Haas students also get a boost from one-on-one career coaching, and the 110-year-old school's well-established—and, in large part, local—network of alumni.

Scott recently talked with BusinessWeek reporter Francesca Levy about career opportunities for Haas students. Following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

How are things going, economy-wise, in California?

Really well, and that's a big draw for Haas. All business schools are a little bit regional, because of the class speakers who come through, and visits from companies—it spills over into the local economy. And we have an innovation ecosystem here. Technology and renewable energy are also taking off, and Berkeley's really at the center.

A year ago UC-Berkeley was given a $500 million grant with a handful of other schools to study alternative energy. And there has been an emergence of energy activity at Haas. The energy club has probably quadrupled in size. Students are smart. They know how to grab the trends. There's definitely a reason to come to Berkeley, because we've seen a healthy increase in job opportunities. Hiring right now is just as good as last May.

If the economic downturn affects California more in the next few years, will career services have to change direction?

We're not ignorant that nationally we may be in a recession. But at the MBA level, we find that companies are still interested in hiring problem solvers. There is huge attrition at the senior management level, because the baby boomers are leaving. And they look to newly minted MBAs to grow the next generation of talent. Even if there's a downturn, they need to bring in new talent and start grooming them. And the Berkeley brand has continued to grow. We have had good success in domestic rankings, and that attracts students—that's not the only thing, but it helps. And it helps that we're somewhat insulated from the rest of the economy.

But we are certainly preparing. Students are very savvy. New students are already contacting me to ask what they can do to hit the ground running. They're nervous.