Do Employment Statistics Tell The Full Story?

One of the things that every person looks at is the employment statistics of business schools. How good are these numbers? Do they truly reflect the hiring scene at that school? Are they "adjusted" so that they look better? What do these numbers tell about the Career Services? Should they be getting the credit/blame for the numbers?

These are important questions that come to my mind now. The sad thing is that when I was looking at these numbers while applying to business schools, I never thought twice of questioning them. The bad news is that these numbers offer little value. They are not at all close to the reality.

Lets take an example. The internship placement rate of XYZ school is 99%. Now this might look amazing right? Although the number is impressive it does not reflect the reality. How many of these students are happy with their internships? Did they want the internship they have or did they got stuck with this internship because there was no other option?

More importantly, what does this number tell about the Career Services of the school? We have no information on how students got these internships. What % of these jobs were a result of career services?

These are important questions you should ask. The only way to find this answer is to talk to a lot of students. Talk to at least 3-4 students so you get to hear different experiences and then make up your mind.