PARIS — When Fuat Ecer decided to go back to school for an M.B.A. after three and a half years working as a consultant, he wanted to be certain to find the best school in which to invest his time, money and future.

“What kind of door-opener do you need?” wondered Mr. Ecer, a 31-year-old German businessman, who sought the school that would best help him find employment in a top global company, even during an economic downturn.

Just as students want their school to be the right “door-opener,” companies are looking for a way to narrow the field of candidates looking for work with them by choosing particular schools for recruiting.

Even though business leaders say that the choice of school is not the only criterion for selecting one job candidate over another, a new survey has found patterns among hundreds of leaders who were asked to weigh in on the schools they looked to first when hiring.