Hire Talent
Standards of Conduct
MBA Recruiting Standards of Conduct (2024-2025)
Standards as of: May 1, 2024
- Tuesday, October 8, 2024: Direct outreach and event advertising may begin.
- Monday, October 21, 2024: Recruiting events may begin.
- Monday, January 6, 2025: Organizations may begin interviewing students. Interviews for international positions may begin on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
- Friday, February 7, 2025: Organizations are advised to keep job offers open until this date or a minimum of two weeks from the date the student receives the written offer, whichever date is later.
HBS Resume Databases
Organizations may only use the HBS Resume Databases for targeted outreach; not to email an entire class of students.
Events & Interviews
- Events, regardless of sponsor (including events for clubs and sections), must be approved by CPD.
- To maintain focus on the academic mission of the School, events and interviews must be scheduled around student class time.
- Organizations with CPD-assigned interview dates are not required to offer date flexibility for first-round interviews.
- Second-round interviews held January 6-17, 2025, must not conflict with a student’s first-round interview commitments.
- Organizations are encouraged to inform students if they are no longer being considered in the interview process.
Learn more about events and interviews.
Job Offers
- If an organization does not make a written job offer, a verbal offer is considered open in perpetuity. It is permissible to offer incentives to students to accept offers early. The base offer (base salary, guaranteed compensation, job function, and location) must remain open until the decision dates noted above. For former full-time employees (including sponsored students), students and organizations may determine a mutually agreeable decision date.
- Recruiters may not pursue a student who has already accepted a job offer from another organization, as this behavior can damage relationships with students, other recruiters, and the School.
- Withdrawing job offers, whether verbal or written, violates professional standards and HBS recruiting standards of conduct. If you are considering retracting an offer for any reason, please contact CPD immediately.
It is the strong and consistent policy of the Harvard Business School to treat all members of our community with respect, to provide an environment conducive to learning and working, and to ensure equal access to rights, privileges and opportunities without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin, age, ancestry, veteran status, disability, military service, or any other legally protected basis. Discrimination or harassment on the basis of these characteristics is inconsistent with HBS principles and policies.
Accordingly, the School makes its facilities and resources available to recruiting organizations whose practices are consistent with this policy.
Harvard Business School reserves the right to modify its recruiting standards of conduct throughout the year.