Friday Factoid: HBS Works to Find Work

With the job market mixed for new MBAs these days, Harvard Business School (HBS) has put together an arsenal of resources to help students in their job search. Students begin by completing an online self-assessment program before they even arrive on campus. The CareerLadder tool, developed by a member of the HBS faculty, helps incoming students identify their life interests, professional skills and “work/reward” values.  When they arrive on campus, first-year students participate in a class that helps them interpret their CareerLadder results while discussing cases on the careers of HBS alumni. Later in the semester, but before official recruiting begins, students can attend Industry Weeks, which are on-campus programs and panels that provide overviews of a variety of industries and address how to plan a successful industry-specific job search. These are taught by career coaches, alumni, Career Services staff and company representatives. First years can also join Career Teams, which are small groups of other first-year students who use exercises, facilitated by trained second-year leaders, to help identify and advance their professional goals. Students may also arrange to meet with one of 35 career coaches for one-on-one coaching or take advantage of one of the many student clubs that help prepare their members for interviews.  Clearly, HBS takes nothing for granted and is committed to not just finding jobs, but to finding the “right” jobs for its students.