The job market is strong: Nine out of every 10 employerssurveyed by the Graduate Management Admission Council, the administrator of the GMAT, say they expect to maintain or increase the number of job openings for business school graduates in 2015. A majority of these employers also plan to increase starting annual base salaries for new hires this year. The demand for MBAs is clearly there, but what is it that makes MBA graduates so employable? 

To get to the heart of it, MBA@UNC asked 24 HR executives from a variety of industries one simple question: “Why does an MBA give candidates an advantage?” Their answers included traits like well-roundedness and a sense of global responsibility, but there were also a few surprises. More often than not we received responses the length of essays detailing how proactive and effective professionals who have earned an MBA are. Read on to find out more about why companies hire MBAs.    

1. Erin Anderson, Senior Vice President of Human Resources, 2U
2. Katie Burke, Director of Talent and Culture, HubSpot
3. Pat Callans, Senior Vice President of Human Resources and Risk Management, Costco Wholesale

See MBA@UNC's full list here