The head of UNC's career management center discusses its programs for MBAs and the encouraging market for 2007

Susan Amey has been the director of the MBA Career Management Center at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School since August, 2005. For the class of 2006, Amey and her staff of eight helped Kenan-Flagler's 268 full-time MBA graduates snag jobs with an average starting salary of $89,500 and a median signing bonus of $23,200. Her office helps all 570 graduate business students.

In these hefty recruiting times, 93% of the class received job offers by 90 days after graduation. Also, 75% to 80% of the grads are career changers. The most popular sectors in 2006 were finance, at 32%, and most unusually, real estate, at 20%. Consulting followed, at 16%, with marketing, at 11%. Geographically, 34% of grads stay in cities in the South, such as Charlotte and Atlanta.

Amey has an MBA from New York University. She previously had 13 years of marketing and strategic planning experience with global companies like Black & Decker (BDK) and Steelcase (SCS).

Amey recently told BusinessWeek.com reporter Janie Ho how her marketing experience helps her as career services director. Here are edited excerpts of their conversation:

You have a strong background in marketing: Where can we see this influence? Is there a strong marketing recruiting program?

My background has the most impact in how we approach our business. We see us as having two customers: the recruiters and the students. Our role is similar to a marketing role because it's really about understanding what those two customer groups need and then trying to satisfy those needs with the programming.

How did the 2006 graduates fare against 2005 graduates?

It was an improving market in 2006. The number of acceptances and offers both rose from 2005. For the 2007 recruiting season so far, more companies (55%) are open to hiring international students, as opposed to 43% last year.

The number of job postings for full-time students from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 2006 is up 38% over the prior year. As on-campus interviewing winds down, job posting opportunities expand exponentially. Finally, 28% more recruiters attended the 2006 fall career fair compared with fall 2005 (see BusinessWeek.com, 3/20/05, "Kenan-Flagler's Big Picture: Admissions Q&A").

What specific sectors or industries were stronger for the Class of 2006? Any notable changes?

We're seeing a lot of increase across the board. Consulting and real estate had notable increases. Consulting companies were more active, even more medium-size and smaller shops are recruiting here (see BusinessWeek.com, 1/22/07, "What B-Schoolers Lust For Now").

Real estate is a strong area for us. A lot of it is driven by our...

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