How Harvard MBAs Get Those Six-Figure Jobs

Recruiting at Harvard Business School is a business onto itself

MORE MBAS INTERESTED IN EARLY STAGE, HIGH GROWTH COMPANIES

“We want the students to think hard about what is meaningful work for them,” explains Lauren Murphy, director of MBA career and professional development. “That may mean a slightly more patient search so the numbers may not be as high as they are at some other schools. But long-term we think that will end up with a match that will work best for the employer and the student.”

Over the years, she and a colleague, Cathy Hutchison, associate director, have seen many changes. Murphy, a Kellogg MBA, has worked in Harvard’s career office since 2005. Like Murphy, Hutchison has racked up a good number of years in MBA career and professional development as well. A Columbia Business School MBA, Hutchison came to HBS in 2003 after stints at Wellesley College and as a brand manager for Procter & Gamble.

Companies have very different needs in terms of when they hire and when they choose to hire,” says Hutchison. “We are helping students think through these processes. Some are doing multiple job searches with different companies. The uniqueness has always been there, but it is a little bit more prevalent on the company side as well. We have seen, over the past few years, more students being the sole hire by a company, and students are being proactive about finding the opportunities that are unique to them. More students seem interested in early stage and small companies. That is another driver for why the timing has changed for MBA recruiting.”

MORE THAN HALF OF HARVARD’S MBA STUDENTS SEEK AN MBA TO MAKE A CAREER CHANGE

Lauren Murphy, a Kellogg MBA, is director of MBA career & professional development at Harvard Business School

What hasn’t changed, they say, is how many students use business school for a career transition. “Most people come to business school to make a change,” says Murphy. “Over half the students definitely come to make a change. So they may have a rough idea of what that looks like but they have to do a lot of refinement and research to figure out what they want to do.”

For MBA students, whether at Harvard or any other top business school, there is rhythm and a pace to the process of landing a highly desirable job and starting a career. But at Harvard, unlike many other schools, it’s pretty much up to the student to seize the opportunity. “We are not Big Brother watching what the students do,” adds Murphy. “We think that a student’s journey is their journey and their job search. They are responsible for it, and we are not dictating any prescribed pathway. This is a professional school, and most students come here to advance themselves professionally. So they are motivated to do this.”

There’s only one exception to this approach at HBS, and it occurs well before first year RCs (for required curriculum) step onto campus. MBA admits first hear from the careers staff between March and June when they are asked to complete an online self-assessment by July. Though developed in the 1980s by Tim Butler and James Waldroop, then co-directors of MBA career development programs at HBS, CareerLeader® is an exercise familiar to many incoming MBA students. That’s because it is used by more than 750 businesses and universities to help people find career success and satisfaction. As many as 300 business schools from all over the world use the tool. The hour-long assessment evaluates students’ deepest life interests, motivations, business skills, and personal work/reward values.