Javier Pluta

Darden student Javier Pluta (MBA '20) served as ambassador to the School through his work with the Second Year Student Admissions Committee and is committed to making sure First Years have the same mentorship opportunities that he received. Though Pluta was a proud undergrad Hoo, he shares that being in Charlottesville post-grad allows for an expanded network and unique experiences with a whole different perspective. With a younger sister at UVA, he carefully considered what recommendations he would share with undergrads.

Q: What did you do after graduating from UVA? What’s next after Darden? 

A: I worked in D.C., focusing on regulatory compliance in financial services. Part of that job included traveling to bank subsidiaries around the world – I saw and experienced true global business!  Post-Darden, I’ll be heading to Liberty Mutual in Boston on a leadership development rotation, which is an exciting next step.  

Q: When you were an undergrad student, did you know that you wanted to go to graduate school or get an MBA? 

A: A graduate program was definitely a foreign idea. I was familiar with Darden only because I saw Darden teams during Intramural Sports, but I never thought I would end up here or that I was qualified. Test taking also wasn’t my strong suit – I didn’t take a standardized test until I was about four years post-grad.  

Undergrads: Take advantage of your study skills now and take a GRE/GMAT sooner rather than later.  

Q: What made you return to school for your MBA? 

A: During my work in the financial sector, I was primarily on the legal side of the table. There were a lot of conversations that were business-focused, though – and there were a lot of correlations between the business and legal. There were too few people who understood how legal changes could impact the business side of things, and that seemed to be a real gap.   

Q: Why Darden? 

A: Darden was on my list of business schools because of its rigorous program. I wanted something that would empower me to learn the materials. Everyone takes the core courses together, so when you’re in a finance or accounting class, you get to learn from classmates who are real-world CFAs and accountants.  

Darden is one of the top business schools, but it is also a tight-knit community. It’s small enough to know everyone in your class, but large enough that you are exposed to new perspectives through different nationalities, cultures and experiences.  

An example of the community component is how much Second Years give back to the First Years. As First Year, I received so much support from the Second Years. Second Years spend their own time volunteering as tutors, mock interviewing, resume reviews, holding coffee chats, etc.

Advice to UVA undergrads:

A: An MBA provides the most optionality for opportunities. Even if you don’t know what you want to do yet, post-MBA you can work in tech, investment banking, marketing, consulting, entrepreneurship, etc. Darden is a top school for employers to recruit from, so there’s a great opportunity for career exploration.