Spring Break
HBS Should Move the Recruiting Deadlines
By Jonathan Lee Kelly, Harbus Board Member
Issue date: 10/22/07 Section: Viewpoints & Humor
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In any of our lives, the question of defining personal success can be challenging indeed, and in this endeavor we often look for guideposts. Merriam-Webster's definition of success is predicated on "attain[ing] a desired object or desired end."
Thinking back to my own childhood I remember vividly when my father declared to my brother and I that he and my mother could not control our academic ability and therefore expected us to do the best that we could. He and my mom were quite emphatic and deliberate in their uncompromised expectations on the character my brother and I might strive for, and lapses were not well regarded or tolerated. It has been years since my brother and I received that talking to and, for better or worse, I think my brother and I still try to live up to those expectations. What I find curious is that I would have taken different roads in life if the guideposts for my thinking about success had been placed differently by my parents. Admittedly, I understand that I was not the most rebellious kid by any stretch and that others would have been quite comfortable in their own skin without seeking external approval, but the theme of sharing values and expectations as a desired part of membership in a family is something with which most of us can agree.
There used be a legal idea of "in loco parentis" that held that universities acted as temporary guardians for undergraduate students as they transitioned into adulthood at institutions of higher learning. Today much of the legal responsibility for such a relationship has been reduced, and I think it fair to assume, with a student population age in the upper twenties, that there is little need for Harvard Business School to act as a substitute parent for any of us. Nonetheless, we make a considerable investment of time, arguably our most precious resource, to commit ourselves to an educational process in which few guideposts are presented beyond job statistics, i.e. starting compensation and the timing of job offers. If the desired object of an education at Harvard Business School is to secure a six figure salary before graduation then we can pat ourselves on the back for succeeding mightily.
Thinking back to my own childhood I remember vividly when my father declared to my brother and I that he and my mother could not control our academic ability and therefore expected us to do the best that we could. He and my mom were quite emphatic and deliberate in their uncompromised expectations on the character my brother and I might strive for, and lapses were not well regarded or tolerated. It has been years since my brother and I received that talking to and, for better or worse, I think my brother and I still try to live up to those expectations. What I find curious is that I would have taken different roads in life if the guideposts for my thinking about success had been placed differently by my parents. Admittedly, I understand that I was not the most rebellious kid by any stretch and that others would have been quite comfortable in their own skin without seeking external approval, but the theme of sharing values and expectations as a desired part of membership in a family is something with which most of us can agree.
There used be a legal idea of "in loco parentis" that held that universities acted as temporary guardians for undergraduate students as they transitioned into adulthood at institutions of higher learning. Today much of the legal responsibility for such a relationship has been reduced, and I think it fair to assume, with a student population age in the upper twenties, that there is little need for Harvard Business School to act as a substitute parent for any of us. Nonetheless, we make a considerable investment of time, arguably our most precious resource, to commit ourselves to an educational process in which few guideposts are presented beyond job statistics, i.e. starting compensation and the timing of job offers. If the desired object of an education at Harvard Business School is to secure a six figure salary before graduation then we can pat ourselves on the back for succeeding mightily.
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