In light of COVID-19, Berkeley-Haas has been working diligently to re-imagine student life and recruitment for our students and partnering companies. The MBA Career Management Group at Haas has decided that Fall MBA recruiting will move to strictly virtual platforms to ensure equity, access, and safety to our diverse student population. This means that all “on-campus” interviews, presentations, and company chats organized through the MBA Career Management Group will be held virtually. We will continue to update employers on 2021 activities as Haas-wide updates become available.

The MBA Career Management team understands that these are unprecedented times and recognizes the complexities that come with virtual recruitment. Our team is here to work with you to maximize the engagement of our students through virtual platforms. Please contact our Relationships Managers if you have questions or would like assistance with your recruitment strategies. The following is an overview of what this change means for Haas-facilitated activities and provides resources for you to further understand how to move forward successfully recruiting at Haas.

Employer Virtual Presentations and Company Chats

We ask that you continue to input and coordinate virtual OCI, presentations, and/or company chats through the Berkeley-Haas Career Management Group as we will be able to help you promote and communicate the event to students as well as avoid conflicts with class schedules and other employer events. We are happy to brainstorm and discuss best practices with you, and welcome hearing about your experiences as well.

  • Event Times: Based on new virtual class schedules, the available times to host presentations and chats have changed slightly. Any requests submitted before August 1 have been confirmed for the closest available time frame to the original requested time. We are here to find a solution with you if that time frame does not work. 
    • Company Presentations 
      • (Mon-Thurs): 1:00 – 2:00pm or 5:00 – 6:00pm 
        • Tues/Thurs: 12:00 – 1:00pm also available
    • Company Chats (Mon-Thurs): 
      • 11:00 – 2:00pm or 4:00 – 6:00pm
      • We can adjust those time blocks to be smaller (i.e. 12 – 2), but chats must remain within those ranges to avoid class conflicts. 
  • Video Conference Hosting Options: 
    • For presentations, you are welcome to utilize your own video conference technology and CMG is open to hosting instead via Zoom, if needed. 
    • For company chats, we require that you utilize your own video conference technology.
      • See our Haas Best Practice FAQ docs on Presentations and Company Chats for more details (linked below) 

“On Campus” Interviews (OCI)

No on-site or in-person interviews will be hosted by the Career Management Group to ensure the safety of interviewers, students and staff. We will continue to support employer registration and date requests, as well as student applications and interview scheduling through 12Twenty. Please reference our Recruiting Calendar and work with your Relationship Manager to select a date that best aligns your company’s needs with the timelines of our students. Again, you are welcome to utilize your own video conferencing technology and CMG is open to hosting via Zoom, if needed.

Club Engagements

If your company is planning club engagement events this year like treks, teach-in’s or interview preparation; that activity should be planned as virtual whether your offices have opened or not. We cannot guarantee in person activity because of space constraints due to social distancing rules and limitations on visitors to Haas’ campus. We acknowledge that employer events organized by professional clubs and other student organizations are an important part of the recruiting experience, and we don’t want that to change in this all-virtual environment. Moving to virtual could create more engagement opportunities as it opens up the opportunity for more people at different levels of the organization to participate. We recommend working directly with student club leaders to organize such events, and contacting your Relationship Manager if you need introductions made.

Off-Campus Events

While it may be tempting to do an in-person event with social-distancing or to have a one-on-one coffee chat with a local representative, we know from student feedback there will inevitably be those who are not able to or comfortable to attend for a variety of reasons. The expectation is that all companies honor our request to do virtual recruiting engagement activities.

CMG Hosted Networking Events

All of our annual multi-company networking events that are typically hosted in the evenings at Haas will be completely virtual this year. We will be utilizing a mixture of Zoom and other virtual event platforms to bring together students and companies for virtual networking throughout the year. The dates and company registrations for said events will be publicized in future newsletters. 

Events include: Haas Consulting Day, Investment Banking Speed Networking Night, URM Diversity Networking Night, Technology Networking Night, 3-School Executive Networking Night, and the Haas Employer Roundtable. If you are not currently on our employer newsletter mailing list, please contact mbarecruiting@haas.berkeley.edu and we will be sure to add you promptly.

Resources

Next: Recruiting Calendar

Read the latest campus information on coronavirus (COVID-19) here. →