Mixing Business with Pleasure

There are three main categories of people at the Harvard Business School according to HBS student Stephen J. Wei: the “party animals”, who go out four to five times per week; “middle tier” social types, who only go out two to three times per week; and the “study animals,” who rarely go out. Wei says that most people start out as bar-hopping socialites but eventually find themselves spending more and more time in Baker Library.

But the ever-present divide between work and play isn’t all that clear cut at the B-school, where, to the chagrin of some professors, socializing often takes precedence over school work. Here, happy hours aren’t a diversion, but part of the all-important job search, where HBS students learn the art of schmoozing that they see as vital to their careers.

GETTING IT DONE (REALLY?)

“Social life is... a big part of the MBA program,” says Edmund J. Kim. Kim is president of HBS section E, one of ten 90-person subdivisions of the business school student body. As a student leader, he knows all about the interplay between social life and academic life.

HBS students frequent pricey Harvard Square haunts like Daedalus, Grafton Street, and Noir. But in addition to the bar-hopping, the members of section E regularly host other events like dinner parties and wine tastings. The well-planned and often-lavish events demonstrate the importance of socializing at HBS, where the person next to you at the bar might be the next CEO of a Fortune 500.

Despite several nights of such extracurricular activities each week, HBS students still find time to make it to class. Even after one particularly rowdy night with the HBS Canadian Club at Mantra, a trendy Boston club, almost every student was present the following morning in Aldrich Hall, Room 11, section E’s home base.

“Sleep gets sacrificed,” says section member Seth B. Blackley about the HBS lifestyle.

According to Kim, section E usually has 11 80-minute classes each week, in addition to study group sessions every morning at 7:30 a.m.

“Its not like the academic rigor isn’t there,” Blackley says. And indeed, U.S. News and World Report currently ranks HBS as the top business school in the country. But that does not mean that social life takes a backseat.

“You learn as much outside the classroom as inside,” says Blackley.

BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

With the constant pressures of networking and recruiting, socializing is hard work for HBS students. From November until winter break, firms arrive on campus to give company presentations.

Business is always mixed with pleasure at HBS—firms follow up their presentations with open bars, cocktail receptions, and dinners where upper-level directors wine and dine in the hopes of attracting top talent to their firms.

“It’s fun socializing,” says section E member Harald W. Klug. “But it’s also kind of work.”

With more than 1,200 firms registered as recruiters on the HBS website, students face an endless series of company presentations, so they often feel the need to sacrifice class work in order to get ahead.

“I could get incrementally better at accounting or I could get a job,” says Blackley. He adds that during his two-month job search he spent about an hour each weekday researching firms and writing letters to establish contacts.

The HBS administration also takes the recruiting process very seriously. Students are regularly given class time off for job interviews. A look at the HBS recruiting schedule, posted on their website, reveals that in the month of February alone there were eight days dedicated solely to the job search—and only 11 days of class.

With the administration’s clear emphasis on recruiting, some faculty members feel academics are overshadowed.

“Recruiting is a problem because of students missing class,” says Assistant Professor Gregory M. Barron. Barron has noticed frequent absences due to students attending recruiting events both on and off campus.

“If [the administration] had more leverage over the recruiters, HBS could kick them out if they didn’t cooperate,” he says.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS

The hours spent at both Baker Library and Grafton Street do not come cheaply for HBS students.

Tuition and fees alone for the class of 2007 totaled $43,678. However, students quickly discover that their busy social lives also carry a high price tag.

The high cost of living may explain why the recruiting process at HBS has become such an important part of students’ lives. The average first-year compensation of Harvard MBAs from the class of 2005 was $115,000, according to statistics from the HBS web site.

“You’re going to make it back,” says section E member Martin Molina, “unless you are going to a nonprofit.” That’s why he believes that HBS students should socialize as they please—they might regret it if they don’t.

Hey, who said schmoozing was cheap?

–R. Drew Davis contributed to the reporting of this story.