OCS Policy Change Hinders Recruiters

A policy change for on-campus recruiting that requires all companies to conduct first-run interviews on campus has excluded some companies from certain services provided by the Office of Career Services (OCS).

Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which has in the past done its interviewing at its Boston offices, is one of the best-known companies excluded because of the new policy.

The move will prevent BCG from using OCS's online account at eRecruiting.com. Also, OCS will not collect student resumes for the firm as it has in the past, OCS officials say.

According to Murray, at least one other consulting firm, Booz, Allen and Hamilton, decided to withdraw from on-campus recruiting because of the policy change. She said she knows of no other companies affected by the change.

Despite the restrictions, BCG has a table at today's Career Forum at the Gordon Track and Tennis Center.

The firm is also running a case interview workshop on Oct. 23 in the Science Center.

BCG Boston Associate Recruiting Coordinator Linda A. Toyias said interviews are usually done at the Boston office because of the large number of candidates.

According to OCS Recruiting Program Director Judith Murray, BCG usually receives between 300 and 400 resumes from OCS each year.

OCS and BCG officials played down the significance of the move.

"My suspicion is that it won't have a big impact [on recruiting] for someone like BCG. It's not as if they're a new player," said OCS Director William Wright-Swadel.

"We have a strong relationship with Harvard and we are going to maintain that relationship," Toyias said.

Wright-Swadel said the move was meant to ease the strain on students who may have had to travel far off campus to go to interviews and other company events.

Wright-Swadel added that the new policy is supposed to make the recruiting process more fair, giving firms the same access to students.

The policy change happened at the beginning of the last recruiting season but was not enforced until now.

"The people we are most concerned about are the students," Wright-Swadel said. "It becomes very complicated and time-consuming for students."

BCG Associate Recruiting Director Beth L. Perez, who chatted with seniors at a small informational session at Sandrine's Bistro in the Square last night, said the policy change "involves us creating enough additional avenues for students to contact us." She predicted the change would not greatly affect students.

Students at the informal gathering were largely neutral about the policy change.

"For people who are genuinely interested, I don't think it would sway the decisions whether to apply or not," said Manisha Thakuria '00-'01.

BCG's withdrawal comes on the heels of a decision by OCS to exclude McKinsey & Company, another leading consulting firm, because of its last-minute withdrawal from on-campus recruiting last fall.

BCG decided to withdraw voluntarily, however, and Murray described OCS's relationship with BCG as "very good."