硅谷青睐MBA毕业生 Silicon Valley goes back to school to manage growth

Growing up often means changing your attitudes to how the world works. The mantra of drop out, start up, helped define the revolutionary spirit of companies like Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, whose founders quit formal education to launch what became world-beating ventures.

长大往往意味着改变你对世界如何运转的看法。辍学、创业的激情，曾帮助定义了Facebook、苹果(Apple)和微软(Microsoft)等公司的革新精神。这些企业的创始人退出了正规教育，创办了日后成为世界一流的企业。

However, data from business schools shows that these very companies, plus peers such as Google and Amazon, now rival consultancies and investment banks as the big MBA hirers. Growing up has brought a new attitude to business education among Silicon Valley’s elite.

然而，商学院的数据表明，这些企业、再加上谷歌(Google)、亚马逊(Amazon)等同行，如今在招聘MBA毕业生方面媲美咨询公司和投行。成长使硅谷精英企业对商业教育产生了新看法。

At UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles, 30 per cent of the 2015 MBA class took roles in technology companies. For the first time, the tech-bound cohort equalled the proportion of students taking the established business school graduate route into the consulting sector.

在加州大学洛杉矶分校安德森商学院(UCLA Anderson School of Business)，2015届MBA班级有30%的毕业生进入科技公司。投身科技行业的毕业生与进入咨询业这种商学院传统去向的毕业生人数相同，这是有史以来第一次。

Adobe Systems took the lion’s share of Anderson MBA graduates last year, pushing Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deloitte into second and third place respectively. The most popular place for an internship was Apple, ahead of Deloitte, Mattel and PwC.

去年，Adobe Systems登上了安德森MBA毕业生雇主榜的榜首，将美银美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)和德勤(Deloitte)推后至第二、三位。苹果是最热门的实习公司，其人气领先于德勤、美泰(Mattel)和普华永道(PwC)。

The increase in technology industry hirings is being driven by changing attitudes among Silicon Valley’s key players and an acknowledgment that many have become the kinds of large companies they used to contrast themselves with, according to Phil Han, Anderson’s director of recruiting operations.

安德森招聘工作主管Phil Han称，科技行业招聘MBA毕业生人数上升的推动因素在于，硅谷的关键人物改变了对MBA的态度，同时很多科技公司意识到：它们已成为过去被自己用作反衬的那种大型公司。

“Even five or six years ago, tech firms felt MBAs didn’t deserve to be in the technology industry because they felt they needed engineers,” he says.

“五、六年前，科技公司甚至觉得MBA毕业生不应进入科技行业，因为他们觉得自己需要的是工程师，”他称。

“Many of these companies are now growing so fast that they need the strategic thinking and leadership skills provided by an MBA. As a result they are coming to us more often.”

“如今很多公司正在迅速成长，他们需要MBA毕业生带来的战略性思维和领导能力。因此，他们更加频繁地来到我们这儿。”

The biggest loser from the rise in technology industry recruitment at Anderson has been the entertainment industry, whose campus is a short car ride from Hollywood’s film and television studios.

科技行业在安德森广招贤才，最大的输家是娱乐业。安德森校区距离好莱坞(Hollywood)电影和电视制片厂只有一段很短的车程。

Companies like Google and Apple, with their freewheeling work practices, office ping pong tables and slides, have stolen the entertainment industry’s crown as the most fun place to work, according to Mr Han.

Han称，谷歌和苹果之类的公司以其自由的工作实践、办公室乒乓球桌和滑梯，已经从娱乐业夺走了最好玩工作环境的桂冠。

“It is not that students do not want to do media, banking or consulting jobs any more, but these tech companies are offering some really interesting perks and benefits,” he says.

“与其说学生们不想再做媒体、银行或咨询工作，不如说这些科技公司确实提供了一些很有意思的待遇和福利，”他称。

Convergence means that it is also harder to distinguish between an entertainment and a technology business.

融合意味着想要区分娱乐公司和科技公司也更难了。

One of the biggest recruiters of Anderson MBA graduates in recent years was Hulu, a streaming service for television shows, video clips and movies. Many people would view this as a technology company but its output puts it at the heart of the entertainment industry.

近年来，安德森MBA毕业生最大的雇主是Hulu——为电视节目、视频短片和电影提供流媒体服务的公司。很多人会认为这是一家科技公司，但它提供的服务使其置身于娱乐业核心。

Mike Carley is in the second year of his MBA at Anderson, but recently secured a job offer from Adobe after a summer internship as a product marketing manager.

麦克•卡利(Mike Carley)正在安德森MBA读第二年，但是他最近已经拿到了一个工作机会。在Adobe完成暑期实习后，他拿到了产品营销经理的offer。

“Tech companies hire incredibly smart people to work on really cool, complex, game-changing products,” he says. “That is the type of life I want to live, and the type of culture I want to be a part of.”

“科技公司聘请极为聪明的人来做非常酷而复杂的颠覆性产品，”他称，“这就是我想要的人生，我想投身其中的那种文化氛围。”

Even at business schools where consultancies and investment banks still take the largest share of MBA graduates, the technology sector is now the fastest growing source of jobs.

就连在咨询和投行仍然招聘最多MBA毕业生的商学院，科技行业如今也成为增长最快的毕业生去向。

A fifth of MBA students graduating from London Business School (LBS) last year took jobs in technology companies, up from 6 per cent as recently as 2010.

去年，伦敦商学院(London Business School) MBA五分之一的毕业生进入了科技公司，远高于2010年的6%。

Despite London’s global pre-eminence in banking, barely a quarter of last year’s MBA graduates took jobs in the financial services sector, down from more than a third in 2010.

尽管伦敦的银行业在全球首屈一指，但是去年仅有不足四分之一的MBA毕业生进入了金融服务业，低于2010年的逾三分之一。

The rise in technology company hires reflects a rebalancing of London’s economy following the growth of tech start-up clusters around neighbourhoods such as Shoreditch and Bermondsey, in turn driving some of the most successful Silicon Valley-based companies to open large offices in the UK.

科技公司大举招募MBA毕业生反映了伦敦经济的再平衡，近年伦敦肖尔迪奇区(Shoreditch)和伯蒙德西区(Bermondsey)涌现出科技初创企业集群，它们的壮大推动硅谷一些最成功的科技企业移师英国，在伦敦设立较大的办公室。

Amazon is among the biggest recruiters of MBA graduates worldwide, amounting to hundreds of jobs globally. It tops the list of tech industry hirers at several top schools in Europe and the US, including LBS.

亚马逊是全球MBA毕业生最大的雇主之一，每年提供数百个工作机会。在欧美多所顶级院校（包括伦敦商学院），亚马逊是科技行业最大雇主。

Miriam Park, Amazon’s director of university recruiting, says her employer targets specific schools for a combination of factors, including an evaluation of whether the institution’s ethos fits with the online retailer’s culture.

亚马逊的高校招聘总监米丽娅姆•帕克(Miriam Park)称，该公司选择学校要考虑一系列因素，其中包括评估该校校风是否符合这家在线零售商的企业文化。

“We value MBAs for, in many cases, the global approach that they can bring to the business with many candidates having worked and studied in more than one country,” she says.

“在很多情况下，我们重视MBA毕业生是因为他们可以给企业带来全球化视角，很多应聘者都在不止一个国家工作和学习过，”她称。

“Their range of experience and variety of backgrounds is invaluable in bringing a different way of looking at our business.”

“他们丰富的阅历和多种多样的文化背景是无价之宝，给我们企业带来了不一样的思路。”

Edward Layoun was among 16 MBA graduates at LBS taking jobs with Amazon last year, more than went to work for Bain & Company or Goldman Sachs.

爱德华•拉尤恩(Edward Layoun)是去年加入亚马逊的16名伦敦商学院MBA毕业生的其中一员。这一数字超过了该校去年进入贝恩公司(Bain & Company)或高盛(Goldman Sachs)的MBA毕业生人数。

The former management consultant, who changed careers to work for the online retailer after graduating with a distinction from LBS, says he was attracted by the chance to lead teams that are trying to make significant changes to the age-old activity of shopping.

在以优异的成绩从伦敦商学院毕业后，这位前管理顾问改变了职业道路，进入亚马逊。他称，有机会领导正在尝试给购物这种历史悠久的活动带来重大变化的团队，这吸引了他。

He claims that his career highlight last year was helping to lead the roll out of Amazon Prime’s same-day delivery service. “It showed how you can really touch people’s lives in this job,” he says.

他声称，去年他的职业亮点是帮助推出亚马逊Prime当日送达服务。“这表明你可以通过这份工作真切地影响人们的生活，”他称。

The perception that companies born in Silicon Valley value employee happiness and work-life balance as a crucial part of their success is a big selling point for those who have worked in other sectors. “I fundamentally disagree with the concept that you have to answer emails at 1:30am or work multiple 20-hour days to do good work, yet stories involving those elements are ubiquitous in the consulting and finance industry,” Anderson’s Mr Carley says.

对于那些在其他行业工作的人来说，在硅谷诞生的企业把员工幸福和工作/生活平衡视为其成功的关键部分这个印象是最大卖点。“你必须在凌晨1时30分回邮件或者为了做好工作而连续多日每天工作20个小时，我压根不认同这种观念，但是，包含这类元素的故事在咨询和金融行业随处可见，”安德森的卡利称。

Jovanna Youssef, another Anderson MBA student, is moving from Deloitte to Apple after working in the Cupertino-based computer company’s product management team during an internship.

安德森另外一名MBA学生乔安娜•优素福(Jovanna Youssef)在苹果的产品管理团队实习后，从德勤跳槽到了这家位于库比蒂诺(Cupertino)的电脑公司。

“While I enjoyed my time at Deloitte and learned a lot, I knew I no longer wanted to work on engagements for various clients, but rather I wanted to work within a company,” she says.

“尽管我很享受在德勤工作的日子，并且学到了很多，但是我知道我不再愿意与不同的客户打交道，而是想在一家公司内部工作，”她称。

LBS’s Mr Layoun claims he switched away from a career in consultancy into technology because he was not satisfied with the focus on moneymaking in his former job.

伦敦商学院的毕业生拉尤恩称，他从咨询行业跳到科技行业，是因为他对自己在上一份工作时专注于赚钱的状态不满意。

“Consulting and investment banking can get you a big pay cheque but at the expense of a lot of things,” he says, adding that he wanted to work for a company that talked about innovation and not just the bottom line.

“咨询和投行的薪资丰厚，但代价也很高，”他称。他补充说，他想为讲创新的公司工作，而不是那些只谈盈亏线的公司。

Given the cost of obtaining an MBA, money does play a part and may be a barrier to technology jobs surpassing consultancy positions as the career of choice for business school graduates.

考虑到拿到MBA学位的成本，薪资确实是重要的部分，可能也是科技企业超越咨询公司成为商学院毕业生首选去向的障碍之一。

Among the class of 2015 MBA graduates at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, the average base salary for those taking jobs in the technology industry was $119,459.

在美国西北大学(Northwestern University)凯洛格管理学院(Kellogg School of Management) 2015届MBA毕业生中，进入科技行业的毕业生平均底薪为119459美元。

This was better than the average for many other sectors, but not as good as consulting, where the average base salary was $133,253, and financial services, with an average base salary of $125,415, according to data from the school.

凯洛格管理学院的数据显示，这一水平超过了其他很多行业的起薪，但是比不上咨询行业（平均底薪133253美元）和金融服务业（平均底薪125415美元）。

At Kellogg, the largest proportion of 2015 graduates took consultancy and financial services jobs, pushing the technology industry into third place.

在凯洛格，2015届毕业生最大的去向是咨询和金融行业，科技行业排在第三位。

There are some mixed messages coming from those at the top of the fastest-growing technology companies about whether getting an MBA is important for a career in the sector.

MBA学位对于投身科技行业的职业是否重要？对于这个问题，发展最迅速的一些科技企业的高层有不同的看法。

Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, said in an online Q&A last December that her MBA from Harvard Business School was not necessary to get a job at her employer.

在去年12月的一场在线问答中，Facebook首席运营官谢里尔•桑德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)称，她在哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)拿到的MBA文凭对于她得到现在这份工作不是必要的。

Her boss, Mark Zuckerberg, has taken the opposite journey. Having dropped out of his Ivy League education to build his social network, in 2014 Mr Zuckerberg joined the advisory board of Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management, one of China’s top business schools. He even delivered an address in Mandarin to students at Tsinghua University’s Beijing campus. Perhaps it is time for Facebook to post a status update to clarify its position.

她的老板马克•扎克伯格(Mark Zuckerberg)则选择了相反的道路。当年他从常青藤(Ivy League)辍学、全力打造自己的社交网站。但是2014年，扎克伯格加入了中国顶级商学院之一清华大学经管学院的顾问委员会。他甚至在清华校园里用中文向学生们发表了演讲。或许Facebook是时候发布新状态来澄清自己的立场了。