The job market for business school graduates shows signs of bouncing back from the Great Recession. Out of those graduating in spring 2010, 88 percent had jobs by September, according to preliminary data from the Graduate Management Admission Council’s Alumni Perspectives Survey . That’s 4 percent higher than the class of 2009, and 16 percentage points higher than the class of 2003, as the economy was coming out of the last recession.

“Surveyed for the first time as alumni, the class of 2010 had good news from the job front. Not only were employment levels up, but average salaries were up as well – from a median of $75,000 in 2009 to $78,819 in 2010,” said Sabeen Sheikh, who conducted the study.

Data from 824 alumni worldwide from the class of 2010 also found:

• 84 percent were working for an employer, and 4 percent were self-employed.
• Overall, graduates had an average of 1.9 job offers, the same as the class of 2009.
• The top three industries of employment are finance/accounting, 21 percent; products and services, 19 percent; and consulting, 15 percent, with nearly six in 10 (59 percent) reporting they got the type of job they wanted.
• About three-quarters (76 percent) said they could not have obtained their current job without a business degree.

GMAC’s Alumni Perspectives Survey queries alumni of graduate business schools each April and September. The complete 2010 survey, with data from business school graduates from the classes of 2000-2010, will be released in January.

The Graduate Management Admission Council is a nonprofit education organization based in Reston, Virginia, with regional offices in London and Hong Kong. GMAC administers the GMAT® exam, which was created in 1954 and is now used by nearly 5,000 graduate management programs at approximately 1,900 business schools worldwide. More information about the GMAT exam is available at www.mba.com