Last week, I wrote to all of our 9,000 alumni asking for their assistance in finding positions for our MBA students. Within an hour we had eight replies; within a day we had 15 new job postings. More are coming in each day. Inside Darden, we have initiated a new program, “Generating Offers and Leads” (GOAL) sessions with students, faculty, and administration so that those students seeking opportunities could learn about ideas and leads from those with job offers as well as those with contacts in different industries and functions. The sharing, and requesting, of leads has been made available to all members of the Darden community via a lead-sharing website on the Darden portal; initially populated with over 100 CDC-generated leads, the site will become a source of ideas from students, faculty, and members of Darden’s administration. Consider these successes the power of an extended family.
In my travels to every major city, I call on companies who have not recruited at Darden recently, or ever. So far this academic year, I have visited 38 prospects. I give each company a pitch on the quality of our program and our students. Then I invite them to consider our students for employment. Not one company has turned me down. Generally, we have increased outreach to companies significantly over the past year, especially to several “recession-resistant” companies and global companies across different industries. Darden is building a healthy franchise among these firms. As the saying goes, what you ask is what you get. Consider these successes the power of simply asking.
This year, Financial Times and BusinessWeek ranked Darden’s Career Development Center among the very best. These top rankings reflect the judgments of corporate recruiters and alumni. They reflect the quality of our students and the “high touch” engagement with CDC. Also we make it easy for recruiters to meet with Darden students–the CDC will host a Darden Career Fair near Dulles airport in mid-April and will also participate in the Southeastern MBA Interview Forum in late March with four other regional MBA programs. Consider these successes the power of being market-facing.
We have a lot going on, and the results show it. Recruiting at Darden compares very favorably with economic climate and with rumors about MBA recruiting in general. 67% of second year students have firm job offers, compared with 81% and 79% in 2008 and 2007 respectively at this time. Darden’s second year offer results place the school among the top few when compared to other leading MBA programs. First year students are in the early stage of their hunt for internships. Would we like it to be better? You bet. But in times like these, you have to play the cards you are dealt. And so far, our cards look pretty good.
Posted by Robert Bruner at 02/09/2009 10:54:21 PM