Top Schools
No. 1: Stanford University
When Sherrie Gong Taguchi was earning an M.B.A. at Stanford in the late '80s, she would change clothes in the lavatory before interviews because the placement office lacked dressing rooms. Today, as Stanford's career-management director, the former corporate recruiter oversees a refurbished center that, needless to say, includes an area where students can comfortably change into interview attire.
But a place to change is the least of what the center offers. There M.B.A.'s-to-be can take part in mock interviews to prepare for the real thing, listen to corporate insiders describe what recruiters want, and take a battery of self-assessment tests. Says Taguchi: "We admit the best and brightest, and whatever their skills are, we can make those better."
To help students with job searches, the center works with campus clubs to host career fairs. Last year, 125 companies turned out for a high-tech fair. Small companies that can't come to campus are encouraged to post openings or converse with students through the career center's new Web page, which contains a system for students to sign up for interview slots. Students also are able to search the center's extensive database and alumni lists.
Taguchi, now 36, had been a human-resources manager for the Dole Food Co. before coming to Stanford three years ago. There she has worked assiduously to build relationships with employers. To obtain leads on new firms, she peruses such magazines as Wired and Red Herring and taps professors and alumni for contacts. Stanford also sets up job fairs in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and, now, Hong Kong and Brussels. Next year, Buenos Aires is on the list.
The payoff shows up in Stanford's placement statistics. Last year's class had an average of three job offers per student, and some received as many as 25. The average starting salary was $82,000. But Taguchi advises Stanford students to pursue their passions, not just a paycheck. Says Taguchi: "Think with your heart as well as your mind."
BUSINESS Specialties Programs ranked best by business school deans and M.B.A. program heads in the U.S. News reputational survey
ACCOUNTING 1. Stanford University (CA) 2. University of Chicago 3. Univ. of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign 4. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 5. University of Texas-Austin
ENTREPRENEURSHIP 1. Babson College (MA) 2. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 3. Harvard University (MA) 4. Stanford University (CA) 5. Univ. of California-Los Angeles (Anderson)
FINANCE 1. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 2. University of Chicago 3. Stanford University (CA) 4. New York University 5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
GENERAL MANAGEMENT 1. Harvard University (MA) 2. Stanford University (CA) 3. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 4. Northwestern Univ. (Kellogg) (IL) 5. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 1. American Grad. Sch. of Intl. Mgmt. (Thunderbird) (AZ) 2. University of South Carolina 3. Columbia University (NY) 4. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 5. Harvard University (MA)
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan) 2. Carnegie Mellon University (PA) 3. Univ. of Minnesota-Twin Cities (Carlson) 4. University of Arizona (Eller) 5. University of Texas-Austin
MARKETING 1. Northwestern Univ. (Kellogg) (IL) 2. Univ. of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 3. Stanford University (CA) 4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor 5. Harvard University (MA)
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