"It's kind of a peculiar system--there's no doubt about that," says Baker.

But Chernick says that the bidding process was initiated five or six years ago to replace the first-come, first-served method of granting interviews. Under the open system, "students would be waiting outside at five in the morning" to sign up for interviews, she says.

Although there is "no perfect [recruiting] system," Chernick says, the advantage to the bidding process is that the students with the most interest get interviews.

While seniors agree that the system is convenient, they add that it does not include as many choices as it could.

"The recruiting is very helpful for people interested in banking, consulting and advertising," says Wolf, who will interview with Morgan Guaranty this fall and plans to go into banking.

The recruiting program is "much better for people who want to go into business and not much good for publishing and editorial positions," says recruiting veteran Joan H. M. Hsiao '86.

"[The On-Campus Recruiting Program] should not be seen as the only way to get a job," says Chernick, stressing that OCS has other resources available to aid seniors.

Students and company representatives also complain that the 20-minute interview process itself can be too short for them to make a realistic impression on one another.

The time limit "is not sufficient for a complete interview," says a representative of the Boston-area Peace Corp, adding that therefore second interviews are always given for persons in whom they're interested.

A member of the Class of 1985 who works in New York says that "looking back on [the interviewing], it's a cold process but you don't feel it while you're there."

"There is a stereotype of the person who succeeds [at interviews]" says one Manhatten research analyst who survived the Harvard interviewing process, adding, "you have to be very business-minded to begin with, or be incredibly self-assured."

Hsiao, who currently works at First Boston Corporation in New York, recounted the tale of one woman she knew to demonstrate that the interviewing process can be "pretty unsettling." This woman had put her resume in with a number of investment banking firms and had gotten a lot of interviews. The first interview, however, unnerved her sufficiently to persuade her to cancel all the remaining interviews.

What They Want

Companies look for different attributes in the students they interview. Shawmut Banks wants "people with a solid liberal arts education who are interested in business issues, display leadership and strong inter-personal skills." On the other hand, the Peace Corp says it looks for leaders, with mathematical and science skills.

But the companies like Harvard grads; last year one-third of the 200 interviewed students got job offers, according to Chernick. "We've had great success over the past years and we have Harvard graduates currently at the partner level," says a representative from Peat, Marwick Mitchell. "We hire a lot of Harvard people and are very disposed to Harvard students."