Career Journeys - Tech

Regardless of role, tech firms and tech-oriented positions expect a working level of technical literacy. Certain concepts — such as design thinking, agile development, and product-market fit — are widespread in the tech world. The following electives include substantial components of tech literacy.

Product managers collaborate constantly with both engineering and marketing for their product roadmap. They gather customer insights, develop use cases and define the strategy and features for release. Similar to PM’s, Program or Project Managers work with stakeholders to deliver solutions. Depending on the company, these roles are more or less technical, but most of them require working with technicians (such as software engineers). The following courses can directly improve your ability to interact successfully with these people.

When graduating Darden, you might find yourself in a functional area role working closely with engineering or product management. These courses are recommended to increase the technical acumen while in those functional roles.

Finance

Marketing

Operations

The Business Analytics concentration will prepare students to participate in organizations that make abundant use of data/quantitative/mathematical techniques (“data science”) as part of their business processes.  It is a more general version of the “Market Analytics” concentration in that the areas of application are more than marketing.  We expect completion of this concentration to be a useful signal to potential employers of the analytic and quantitative abilities of the student.

Faculty Contact: Robert Carraway

Concentration Requirements

A student will be recognized as having completed this concentration when they have met the following constraints:

• Completed at least 9.0 hours of the courses listed below.
• Completed at least 1.5 hours of an Independent Study with a Quantitative Analysis faculty member.

Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.

Specific Required Courses: None. Although we expect students will take Data Analysis and Optimization (7600) as it is a pre-requisite for some of the courses below.

Student graduates will develop the mindset and skill set to succeed at identifying and implementing innovation in a corporate setting.

Faculty Contact: Jeanne Liedtka

Concentration Requirements

A student will be recognized as having this concentration when they have completed 9.0 credit hours from the courses listed below.

Note: Not all courses may be offered in a given year.

For students who want to add a quantitative and analytical focus to the general management curriculum, Darden offers a management science specialization. This specialization requires that students earn 12 credits from a select group of electives. It also carries a STEM designation, which gives international students in F-1 status who meet certain requirements the possibility of 36 months of work authorization in the U.S. after graduation.

In one year and 30 credit hours, students in Darden's M.S. in business analytics degree develop the portfolio of skills needed to leverage and communicate insights into strategic corporate actions, solutions and results. 

Darden's Master of Business Administration/Master of Science in Data Science (MBA/MSDS) provides robust training and cutting-edge tools ideal for students who plan to pursue a variety of career fields, ranging from technology to entrepreneurship to consulting. 

The UVA School of Education and Human Development and the Darden School of Business offer a MBA/M.Ed degree designed to prepare creative, principled, and practical leaders — leaders who will create education innovations in the United States and around the world. 

Darden and UVA's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) offer the MBA/ME dual degree. The objective of the joint MBA/ME degree program is to develop leaders with business administration skills and solid technical expertise. 

Through Darden’s Career Center and Alumni Career Services, you’ll gain career guidance from the moment you enroll and for wherever your career takes you after graduation. Here’s what you can expect:

• Pre-matriculation, First Year and Second Year career education 
• One-on-one, industry-specific coaching 
• Darden-facilitated opportunities for networking, meeting alumni and industry leaders, and interviewing 
• West Coast, DC and NYC Tech Treks
• Resume and cover letter reviews 
• Access to advanced analytics and data to craft recruiting marketing materials such as resume, LinkedIn, and more 
• Industry- and employer-specific database for interview prep and salary research 
• Case interview prep 
• Mock interviews 
• Employer case competitions 
• Negotiation skill-building 
• Executives-in-Residence Program 

Technology Club 

The Technology Club connects members to opportunities at tech companies, shares knowledge from thought leaders, and offers hands-on skills training, mentorship and recruiting support.  

FinTech Club 

The FinTech Club is devoted to promoting student interest in the FinTech industry, educate students on innovations that impact financial services, and support members who are pursuing careers in FinTech.  

Darden Business Innovation and Design Club 

The Darden Business Innovation and Design Club exists to foster a community around, promote the ideals of and encourage careers paths that incorporate design methodologies in leading organizations.  

Data Science Club 

The Data Science Club aims to educate MBA students on the importance of quantitative analytics and identify opportunities for members to pursue careers in the field of data science across a variety of industries.  

The Batten Institute 

The Batten Institute seeks to challenge every Darden student to fulfill their entrepreneurial potential through transformative learning experiences and groundbreaking research in entrepreneurship, innovation and technology.   

Batten Venture Internship Program 

The Batten Venture Internship Program provides Darden students the opportunity to pursue summer internships with startups and venture capital firms.