But that’s not even the most exciting part of the story. What’s truly exciting are the career transformations and connections that our students were able to make through their experiences at TCU.
We’ll give you your TCU MBA business cards before classes begin. You'll need them, because you will already be working with your personal career coach to fine-tune your personal goals, meeting recruiters and creating your career development plan.
The Neeley Graduate Career Center works with you from day one to enhance your marketability and give you the tools you need for a lifetime of successful careers. You'll have access to nationally recognized experts on interviewing techniques and salary negotiations. You'll travel to major career fairs across the country, often on travel grants from the Graduate Career Center. And through innovative networking programs, you'll have the opportunity to showcase your skills and make lasting impressions on senior execs from top companies.
And after graduation? You'll join the network of 15,000 Neeley School successful alumni working in DFW, Houston, Omaha, San Diego, New York City, Berlin, Mumbai and around the globe.
- Career Coaches
Personal Career Coach
Every Neeley MBA student is assigned a professional career coach from our Graduate Career Center (GCC). Your coach will work with you to develop a career development plan unique to your career goals. Your coach will help you master the latest job-search strategies, transition into new functional areas or industries and identify the corporate connections that lead to internships and offers. Our career coaches have built extensive networks with hiring managers across the country, actively recruit company reps for on-campus interviews and presentations, and serve as your on-site strategists at national career conferences.
Subject Matter Experts
In addition to the professional career coaches in the Graduate Career Center, you’ll have one-on-one access to expert career consultants with direct experience in the finance, marketing or supply chain fields. You’ll analyze hiring trends, salaries, opportunities by region and other industry-specific details. In today’s economy, this intense preparation can give you a real competitive edge.
Neeley Professional Development Center
Strong presentation skills increase your marketability – and your effectiveness on the job. That’s why presentation experts are on hand in the Neeley Professional Development Center to coach your performance, whether for a presentation in your classes, on your internship or as part of a consulting project. Before you graduate, you will have presented to corporate leaders dozens of times.
- Career Exploration and Prep
Career Leader Assessment
Career Leader is an online tool that uses an integrated approach to business career self-assessment. It's the same tool used by other top b-schools and corporations worldwide to help guide students' and employees' careers. The Neeley difference – you will have the guidance of your professional career coach to help you understand and interpret the results, and help build them into your personal career development plan.
Career JumpSTART
To help you better understand the academic and career preparation offered in the various functional disciplines, you will attend several JumpSTART sessions, held before classes begin during the START Workshop. These day-long events provide an early understanding of MBA-level career opportunities in finance, marketing and supply chain. You’ll meet with faculty for a comprehensive look at the TCU curriculum, hear from expert consultants on industry career trends and interact with a panel of executives from top firms. And even though classes have not yet begun, be ready for your first case competition, presented by a corporate sponsor such as GameStop or PepsiCo.
Professional Development Course
This is no one-shot workshop on how to make your resume look pretty! It’s an eight-week, strategic approach to your long-term career success. You’ll learn from professional and functional industry experts key strategies to manage your career search, identify your business interests, articulate your previous and newly acquired transferable and specialized skills, and identify the most effective means to compete for positions at the MBA level.
Marketing and Supply Chain Bootcamps
Early during your first semester, you can attend either or both of these two-day immersion experiences designed to provide an in-depth understanding of the field, career options and how to compete for internships. The Graduate Career Center and academic departments work together to craft these intensive sessions, bringing to campus top managers, often TCU alumni, from companies like Procter & Gamble, Dr. Pepper, and A.T. Kearney. You will hear about the “must know” issues from their industries, the critical skills for success in that field as well as keys to landing an internship. Neeley faculty members provide topical overviews of key subjects to come later in the curriculum.
Interview Prep
In addition to the extensive interview skills support you will receive from the Graduate Career Center, you’ll learn how to get the upper hand on your MBA competition from national experts:
- Master case interviews. They’re used to screen applicants for consulting, marketing research, investment banking, supply chain management and consumer packaged goods brand jobs. Marc Costentino, a nationally recognized specialist in case interviews and author of Case in Point, teaches you how to ask the right questions, work logically through each problem and demonstrate to top consulting firms like McKinsey, BCG and Bain why you are the person to hire.
- Build your technical knowledge. If looking for opportunities in equity research, asset management or capital markets, you will face tough technical interviews. Learn from Wall Street prep, a group of ex-Wall Streeters who teach investment banking interview seminars through intensive, exercise-based approach that helps bridge the gap between theory and practice.
- Understand MBA-level salary negotiations. Donald Asher, author and expert on professional development and frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal online, careerbuilder.com and careerjournal.com, explains how to maximize your personal bottom line. There’s usually a tiny window of time to negotiate – and TCU students will know how to make the most of it.
- Networking Programs
Throughout your Neeley experience – beginning with the START workshop before classes even begin – you will be positioned for meaningful interaction with senior executives and hiring managers from top companies. You will participate in programs that allow you to showcase your skills, small group discussions and formal company presentations. And because of Neeley’s intimate size, you will have access to participate in multiple networking programs.
START Workshop
At Neeley, you’ll begin networking with companies before your first class meets. As a part of the comprehensive START Workshop, you’ll present your first case in front of corporate sponsors like Sabre Holdings and PepsiCo. You’ll also lunch with recruiters from major employers in the DFW area who coming to scout the new MBA talent.
Lunch & Learn Sessions
Organized by the Graduate Career Center in cooperation with student organizations, these small group sessions bring to campus alumni, recruiters and hiring managers from targeted companies for an informal lunch and in-depth conversation about a particular company or industry. Recent participants have included Brett Swenson, project manager due diligence, Citadel Investment Group, NYC; Bill Potts, vice president, business development, Ironman; Gary Walsh, (MBA ‘95), principal and portfolio manager, Luther King Capital Management; Phil Barnett, founder and principal, Industry Petroleum; and Tom DeCaro, executive VP of supply chain, Michael’s.
Company Information Sessions
Recruiters frequently contact the Graduate Career Center to organize informal gatherings as a means to meet with students prior to on-campus interviews. These sessions give the company the chance to provide additional insight into opportunities at their organization, corporate culture, and skills sought. The sessions are often a chance for recruiters to get a “first look” at potential job or intern applicants. A few of the companies recently hosting information sessions on or near campus include: AT&T, PepsiCo, Nomura Securities, BBVA, Hewlett Packard, and Novation.
Neeley Connections
Imagine working in a small group alongside senior execs to tackle a live business case currently faced by their company. Called Neeley Connections, this program allows you to showcase your problem-solving skills and ability to think on your feet, often leaving lasting impressions more powerful than a traditional interview. A few examples of companies recently presenting cases: McKesson, Transystems, GameStop, Southwest Airlines, IBM, Frito-Lay, CB Richard Ellis and First Command Financial.
C-level Confidential
Join a handful of your peers for a small-group dinner—and candid conversations—with a senior corporate executive. Without the big audience, prepared speech, and media present, you will have a much more meaningful exchange, including the chance to ask questions and make an impression. You will gain sound career advice and add powerful connections to your personal network. Recent visitors include:
- Elliott Hill (TCU ’86), VP and general manager – North America, Nike
- Joe Clayton, president and CEO, Dish Network, and former chairman, Sirius XM Radio
- Michael Fischer, vice president for organization development and talent management, Energy Future Holdings
- Julie Wilson, vice president, urban development, Chesapeake Energy
- Kurt Kimball, executive vice president, North America, Compass Group
- Steve Hill, managing partner–advisory services, KPMG
- John Garrison, CEO, Bell Helicopter
- Lorna Donatone, COO and president, education market, Sodexho
Integrative Project
At the end of this weeklong business simulation, you’ll present your team’s plan and results to recruiters from firms like PepsiCo, Sabre Holdings (Travelocity is one of its brands), Healthpoint, Alcon Laboratories, Bell Helicopter Textron, Deloitte Consulting, McKesson, Frito-Lay and other companies. For many students, the integrative project is a first connection to lining up internship interviews.
- Career Travel
Student Organization Corporate Trips
The Graduate Career Center works closely with student clubs to identify targeted companies for visits to meet with hiring managers, and frequently provides travel grants to cover a portion of the travel expenses. The meetings with corporate executives and alumni in those cities prove to be an important foot in the door for many students, helping to build relationships that lead to job opportunities.
- The Capital Market Club’s trip to New York City included meetings with hiring managers at Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, Nomura Securities, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, Morgan Stanley, AEA Investments and UBS, plus a visit to the New York Stock Exchange.
- The Energy Club travelled to Houston for the NAPE Expo, the world’s largest conference and career fair for energy exploration, and company visits to Dresser and Fayez Sarofim & Co.
- The MBA Marketing Club travelled to Austin and Chicago to meet with companies such as McDonalds, 3M, Sears Holdings, DMX multi-sensory branding, GSD&M: Idea City, Golfsmith International and Gemalto.
National Career Fairs
Held in major cities across the country, four primary national MBA career fairs attract hundreds of top employers each year. The Graduate Career Center will work with you to identify the most appropriate career fairs to attend based on your career goals and targeted companies, and will frequently provide travel grants to cover a portion of the travel expenses. You’ll participate in specific training on how to effectively network and interview at these events, and Neeley career coaches will attend to serve as your on-site strategist.
- Internships
Internships
For most students, internships are a critical component of career development. Adding experience to your résumé, sampling new career interests and developing networks with potential employers can lead to exciting opportunities. At the Neeley School, you can tap the school's strong ties to leading employers for access to professional-level, paid internships. Though competition for these positions is intense, the Neeley School Graduate Career Service Center will help you develop and refine your job search strategies. The results are impressive:
2011 MBA Internship Results: 100% students employed in internships
It is not unusual for the students who interned with local DFW companies to continue working 10-15 hours per week for these companies during the second year of the MBA program. In recent years, about 40-45% of the second-year students continued projects for their intern companies into the second year of the program.
- Employment Stats
- Based on May 2012 graduates:
Download the full Employment Report
Employment Rate
(90 days after graduation) |
87% |
| Starting Salaries |
| Total Graduating Class |
Average: $81,331 |
| Signing Bonus |
Average: $17,000 |
| Other Guaranteed Compensation |
Average: $10,150 |
| Salaries by Previous Experience: |
| 6+ years |
Average: $85,155
Range: $75,000 - $100,000 |
| 3-6 years |
Average: $82,943
Range: $65,000 - $115,000 |
| Less than 3 years |
Average: $77,000
Range: $70,000 - $90,000 |
| International Student Employment |
Employment Rate
(90 days after graduation) |
88% |
| Accepting positions within U.S. |
97% |
| Starting Salaries |
Average: $79,180
Range: $75,000 - $100,000 |
- Recent Employers
- Sample of companies recently offering full-time or internship positions to TCU MBA students:
Abbott Nutrition
Academy Sports
ACS
Accenture
Alcon Laboratories
Allen Commercial Industries
American Airlines
Argent Petroleum
AT&T
BBVA Compass Group
Baker Hughes
Baylor Heart Hospital
Bell Helicopter Textron
Ben E. Keith Beverages
BenefitMall
Burlington Northern Santa Fe
Brinker International
Carreker
Cash America
Catholic Charities
CB Richard Ellis
Chesapeake Energy
Children’s Medical Center
CITI
Clarity Homes
Comcast
Cook Children’s Hospital
Credit Suisse
Current Energy
Danco
Deloitte Consulting
DFW Airport
DHL
DKNY
Dyncorp International
Education Pioneers
Encore Acquisitions
energy Future Holdings
Ericsson
Ernst & Young
Essilor
Exco Resources
Federal Reserve Bank
Fidelity
First Choice Power
First Command
Fort Worth Employees Retirement Fund
Frito-Lay
Galderma
GameStop
GE Capital Real Estate
GSA – U.S. General Service Administration |
Haggar Clothing
Halliburton
Hawker Beechcraft
Healthpoint LTD
Hewlett-Packard
Hillwood Properites
Hilton Worldwide
Hunt Power
IBM
Impel Management
Integra Realty Resources
Intel Corp.
JCPenney
Johnson & Johnson
Jones, Land & Lasalle
Kansas City Southern
Kellogg’s
Kimberly-Clark
LiveStrong
Lockheed Martin
Luminant
Luther King Capital Management
MCNT – Medical Centers of North Texas
Medi-Dyne Healthcare
Mercy Ships
Merrill Lynch
Methodist Hospital System
N3 Real Estate
Nomura Securities
Novation
Oncor Electric
Optim Energy
Orix Capital Markets, LLC
OXEA Chemicals
Paradigm Capital
PepsiCo
Quicksilver
Raytheon
SAP
Sabre Holdings
Satori Capital
Schlumberger
Sherwin Williams
Stryker
TCU Endowment
Texas Health Resources
Texas Instruments
United Investment
Verizon
Virbac Corp.
Vought Aircraft Industries
Williamson Dickie’s |