花老闆的錢去讀MBA商學院

Companies are advertising a rather peculiar perk to lure top undergraduate talent: Showing them the door -- to graduate school, that is.

各大公司正在用一種相當特別的工作待遇來吸引頂尖的本科畢業生人才：把他們送進研究生院的大門。

As a means of attracting stellar young hires, an increasing number of firms in finance, consulting and technology are shepherding employees through the graduate-school admissions process by organizing and paying for test-preparation courses, inviting admissions consultants to help with applications, arranging mock interviews with senior staffers and even bringing school representatives to information sessions at the office.

作爲一種吸引優秀新人的方式，金融、諮詢及科技領域越來越多的公司開始幫助員工申請研究生，包括組織員工參加備考課程並提供學費，邀請申請顧問協助申請，安排由高級員工模擬的面試，甚至邀請學校代表參加公司的信息交流會。

Companies support staffers attending a number of graduate programs, but business school is by far the most common destination.

公司支持員工入讀各種研究生項目，但目前商學院是最普遍的選擇。

It may seem counterintuitive to encourage employees to head for the exits, but firms say that assisting with the graduate-school application process leads to long-term loyalty and, with strings attached to tuition money, improves the chances that employees will return after graduation. (Most companies reimburse employees only after they've been back for a number of months or even years.)

鼓勵員工離開公司似乎有悖常理，但這些公司表示，從長遠來看，幫助員工申請研究生有助於增強員工的忠誠度，而且由於有學費的附帶條件，更能增加員工畢業後回到公司的機率。（大多數公司在員工回到公司幾個月甚至幾年後纔會報銷學費。）

Such programs have been in place for a while, but have grown more popular in recent years as the recruiting process heats up.

此類項目的出現已經有一段時間了，但隨着招聘市場升溫，近幾年開始越來越流行。

Employees generally begin applying to business school two or three years into their tenure. The prep programs, some of which require formal applications and a manager's sign-off, are generally geared toward high-potential employees and direct those employees toward top schools.

員工一般都會在入職兩三年後開始申請商學院。這種預備項目一般都是針對潛力較大的員工，幫助這些員工入讀頂尖學校，其中有些項目需要正式申請以及管理者的簽字同意。

Corporate interest in the GMAT course at Manhattan Prep picked up about six years ago and has grown steadily since, says Evyn Williams, senior manager of marketing and corporate relations at the New York-based test-prep company.

紐約Manhattan Prep是一家提供備考服務的公司。該公司市場及企業關係高級經理威廉姆斯（Evyn Williams）說，六年前左右，企業對該公司GMAT課程的興趣開始增加，並且從那以後一直穩定增長。

Manhattan Prep's client list -- it boasts more than 40 corporate partnerships including dedicated classes and discount rates -- reads like a who's who of feeders for (and recruiters from) elite graduate business schools, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Boston Consulting Group Inc., Deloitte Consulting LLP and Google Inc.

Manhattan Prep表示其已與40多家公司建立了合作關係，服務包括各類專門的課程，並提供折扣價格。公司的客戶名單看起來就像是精英商學院的人才輸送庫（同時也是招聘大戶），包括高盛集團（Goldman Sachs Group Inc.）、波士頓諮詢公司（Boston Consulting Group Inc.）、德勤諮詢公司（Deloitte Consulting LLP），以及谷歌（Google Inc.）。

Hoping to snag top talent, BCG began supporting GMAT test preparation in 2005 and brought courses on-site in 2008, though more recently it shifted to online courses to better accommodate traveling employees.

爲抓住頂尖人才，波士頓諮詢公司從2005年開始提供GMAT備考支持，2008年開設現場課程，直到最近開始提供網絡課程，以更好地照顧到出差的員工。

Jennifer Comparoni, head of Americas recruiting at BCG, says the support available for graduate-school applicants is 'absolutely' part of the company's recruiting pitch when hiring undergraduates.

波士頓諮詢公司美洲地區招聘主管卡姆帕羅尼（Jennifer Comparoni）說，對申請研究生的員工提供的支持“絕對”是公司在招聘本科畢業生時招聘策略的一部分。

The firm also partners applicants with more senior employees who hold M.B.A.s to assist in crafting essays and preparing for interviews. The aid doesn't end once the employee gets an acceptance letter: about 75% of associates are offered full-tuition sponsorship for up to two years of graduate school, with reimbursement upon return to the firm after graduation.

該公司還將申請者與更資深的擁有MBA學位的員工配對，讓後者幫助申請者修改文書和準備面試。公司給予的幫助並不是在員工拿到錄取信時就結束了：約75%的員工會獲得最多兩年研究生學業的全部學費資助，畢業後回到公司就可以報銷。

Ms. Comparoni declined to provide financial details of the admissions assistance programs, but it could easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars at many companies, and more for those that cover school tuition.

卡姆帕羅尼拒絕提供申請協助計劃所花資金的具體情況，但很多公司的花費動輒就達到數十萬，報銷學費的公司花的錢就更多了。

Manhattan Prep charges a retail price of $1,590 for its nine-week GMAT course, and while corporate partners do get a discount, Ms. Williams says many still pay more than $1,000 per person. Class sizes generally range from 15 to 25 people, and some clients sell out sessions at multiple offices. Manhattan Prep has run about 40 dedicated corporate classes in the past year.

Manhattan Prep的GMAT課程共九周，零售價爲1,590美元。威廉姆斯說，雖然企業合作伙伴能拿到折扣價，但很多公司給每位員工所付的學費都在1,000美元以上。班級人數一般爲15到25人，有些客戶會在各個辦事處安排課程。Manhattan Prep過去一年開設了約40個企業班。

Washington Post Co.'s Kaplan Test Prep also has been teaming up with companies for years, but Howard Bell, vice president of graduate programs, says there's recently been 'significant growth' there as well. The company declined to provide details of its corporate rates, but retail courses at a Kaplan center cost $1,599 per student, while virtual courses range from $599 to $949.

華盛頓郵報公司（Washington Post Co.）旗下的備考機構Kaplan Test Prep多年來也一直在與各大公司合作，其研究生項目副總裁貝爾（Howard Bell）說，最近公司也出現了“顯著增長”。該公司拒絕透露面向企業客戶課程的具體價格，其一家培訓中心的零售課程價格爲每人1,599美元，網絡課程的價格爲599至949美元不等。

'It's a very significant investment, both financially and time-wise, but we see it as one of the most important things that we do in terms of developing our practitioners,' says Julie Meehan, a principal at Deloitte who oversees undergraduate recruiting for the strategy and operations practice.

米韓（Julie Meehan）是德勤負責戰略管理諮詢崗位本科畢業生招聘的主管。她說，從資金和時間上來看，這都是一項巨大的投資，但我們把它看作是在我們培養諮詢執業者方面所做的最重要的事情之一。

Ms. Meehan says the broad perspective that business school provides helps with consulting assignments that require creative problem-solving.

米韓說，諮詢業務需要創造性解決問題的能力，商學院提供的寬廣視野對此很有助益。

An M.B.A. may not be a requirement, but it's still very much a rite of passage at many companies.

MBA學位可能並不是硬性要求，但在許多公司，它差不多仍然是一種必經之路。

'You need to get your M.B.A. to move up the ranks' and become a principal in the strategy and operations group, Ms. Meehan says.

米韓說，拿到MBA才能升職，才能成爲戰略和運營團隊的核心人物，

Erin Kruse, a Chicago-based manager in the strategy service line at Deloitte, says the company's support for business school 'was a key point' in her decision to take the job offer in 2006. Ms. Kruse, 28 years old, returned to Deloitte last fall after completing her M.B.A. at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

德勤駐芝加哥戰略諮詢經理克魯斯（Erin Kruse）說，公司對員工就讀商學院方面的支持是她2006年決定接受這份工作的一個“關鍵因素”。28歲的克魯斯在杜克大學福庫商學院（Duke University Fuqua School of Business）去年秋天完成MBA學業後回到了德勤。

Ms. Kruse participated in interview preparation and resume review sessions hosted by Deloitte staffers, receiving advice on how to highlight her professional experiences in the application.

克魯斯在申請商學院過程中參加了德勤員工舉辦的面試準備及簡歷評估課程，獲得瞭如何在申請中突出自身職業經歷的建議。