Are you currently considering going for your MBA program? Identifying the MBA program that is right for you is not easy. You want to be sure the school you select will help you develop the technical and interpersonal skills that will allow you to be successful in today’s business environment. You want a school that will challenge and stretch you, in an environment that provides the tools and resources for you to succeed. Then, The University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business is definitely a school to consider.

Darden Graduate School of Business has been integrating career services into its standard curriculum for the past three years. In fact, Darden faculty spends the first week of classes helping students understand the results of their self-assessment tests and write detailed career plans. The graduating class of 2005 had an 86% job placement rate at graduation, with 96% finding employment three months later. Moreover, graduates also demonstrate innovative leadership practices honed at Darden.

The foundation of this entrepreneurial spirit is exceptional teaching. The entrepreneurship faculty includes leading professors in the field, as well as adjunct professors with extensive practical experience as entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and leaders in innovation. A leading business think-tank, the Batten Institute invests in applied research and knowledge transfer programs on the frontiers of change in organizations, markets, and technologies. The Institute is a nexus of practitioners and scholars who foster new practical knowledge about business innovation and change.

In his three years as the director of Darden’s Career Development Center, Everette Fortner has focused on self-assessment and career plans. Having graduated from Darden with an MBA in 1987, Fortner spent 17 years in consumer marketing at Kraft and Nabisco, as well as handling financial services marketing at Dun & Bradstreet. Fortner uses his work experience in both the U.S. and Singapore to prepare the 300-student graduating class for the challenges of a global economy. According to Fortner, Darden teaches students lifelong career management, which focuses on self-assessment and career planning. Darden faculty also helps students to understand their self-assessment.