OCS Reschedules On Campus Interviews Due to Hurricane

As Harvard students braced themselves for “Frankenstorm” Sandy by stocking up on food and water at CVS, and the College announced the cancellation of classes, the administrators at the Office of Career Services faced another difficult task Sunday evening: how to handle the 106 On-Campus Interviews scheduled for Monday.

The inclement weather and the difficulties it presented for those traveling to campus forced OCS to reschedule many of the interviews originally planned for Monday and Tuesday for students participating in the OCS Recruiting Program. Seventy-five students had interviews scheduled on Monday alone.

“[Employers] want to come through rain or sleet or snow to interview Harvard students,” said Deborah Carroll, the associate director for employer relations and operations. “But sometimes airlines and Amtrak don’t agree with them.”

Nine employers were scheduled to conduct interviews early this week, including Dropbox, Opera Solutions, and Brookshire Capital.

In addition to rescheduling interviews, OCS postponed all employer presentations on Monday and Tuesday, including those from companies such as Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse.

Prior to the University’s announcement that all but essential operations would be suspended, OCS had offered recruiters who were in town the option of conducting face-to-face interviews, according to Carroll.

After the University’s announcement, Carroll said OCS amended their policy and asked the employers to offer students the option of following through with the interviews if they felt comfortable going outside.

Though many employers could not conduct interviews due to difficulty travelling in and out of New York City and Boston, some still chose to conduct Skype and phone interviews.

Others companies, like Dropbox, still continued to hold their interview sessions.

Students who came out to the interview facility early Monday morning were happy with their decision to attend, grateful for the opportunity to focus on their job search in the absence of classes, Carroll said.

Though coordinating such a large number of students has been difficult for OCS, Carroll said that they have managed to reschedule most of the interviews by early next week. She added that students did not appear to be exceptionally distressed by the change of plans.

“I think it reassured people when we told them that they wouldn’t have to wait very long before the rescheduled interview,” Carroll said.

The employer presentations, however, will most likely be held after Thanksgiving, Carroll said, well before the On-Campus Interview program’s first application deadline on Jan. 16.

—Staff writer Melanie A. Guzman can be reached at melanieguzman@college.harvard.edu.