Aspiring investment bankers, consultants and financiers usually have to wait until their second or third round of interviews before a recruiter wines and dines them.

But this week about 100 students got a jumpstart on fall recruiting at the Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) Business Leaders Conference, where four of Harvard's most prestigious corporate recruiters mixed education with self-promotion--and picked up the tab for dinner.

The students got a free dinner, and the sponsors got first-crack at some of the most sought-after graduates in the nation.

But College officials gave a mixed blessing to the program and many students say they weren't taking the bait.

Trading on a Name

For the last week, the 100 students took four hours of classes a day from Harvard Business School professors and business leaders, at no personal expense.

Students dined at the Faculty Club, where theyschmoozed with recruiters. The College providedhousing.

The cost of the conference was picked up byfour $10,000 sponsors: Fidelity Investments,Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company and Trilogy.

In return for their sponsorship, the companiessent a speaker and legions of recruiters to thedinners, got full-page ads in the conferenceprogram and can request the participantsi resumes.

The program was born last fall, when currentHSA Vice President Jon Sakoda approached theCollege about hosting an early program to bringHarvard students together with businesspeople inan educational setting. To make it work, Sakodaneeded the College to provide early housing.

Initially, the Dean of Student's Office wasreluctant.

"It took me several pitches to get them in linewith the program," Sakoda says.

He says Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III andCoordinator of Student Activities Susan T. Cookeexpressed concern about students partying in theHouses, conflicts with the Office of CareerServices and the selectivity of the program.

Eventually, however, the College agreed.

Getting the companies on board was much easier.

"In that these students have interest inbusiness, [this] is a great start for Trilogy,"says Trilogy recruiter Kathryn Knowles. "These arethe kinds of students we look for."

The software firm's CEO and Founder JoeLiemandt spoke at the conference dinner Wednesdaynight, and on yesterday, Trilogy took interestedstudents to lunch at John Harvard's Brew House.

Liemandt was among several heavy hitters whoattended: D. Ronald Daniel, a Director of McKinseyand a member of the Harvard Corporation, spoke atlast night's dinner. Other companies sent theirfounders and CEOs.

Sakoda says he enticed the 12 sponsors with anoffer of eager recruits.

"We said this is a great chance for you toreach out to Harvard students going intobusiness," he says.

Recruiters agreed.

"It's clearly to establish an earlyconnection," Daniel says.

But while companies were wooing students, manyweren't at the conference for a job.

"The main thing was the chance to see what sortof opportunities there are in various parts ofbusiness," says Jesse L. Margolis '99. "I'm notcoming here to get a job from these people."

Kadar A. Lewis '99 says he attended more to geta taste of business than to charm recruiters.

"It's almost a mini-business schoolexperience," he says.

Classroom or Recruiting Fair?

The Office of Career Services (OCS)--whichcoordinates Harvard's official recruitingprogram--had no involvement at all in theconference, according to Assistant Director EmilyHelm.

"Our programs are for the entire student body,"Helm says. "What we are concerned with is that wepresent opportunities for all students."

HSA solicited applications last spring. Of the160 applicants, roughly 100 were accepted, Sakodasays, but exact figures were not available atpress time because students were entering at thelast minute.

Companies recruiting officially at Harvardcannot hold information sessions or receiveresumes before a date set by OCS. Helm says theserules ensure each student has a fair shot at jobopportunities.

As for the College, officials say they woulddisapprove of sponsors using the conference to geta head start on recruiting.

"It's important that if corporations areinvolved in a student program, we review thattheir involvement is reflective of an educationalrole," Cooke says. She says she is satisfied thatthe HSA conference meets this requirement.

Sakoda says recruiting is the conference'ssecondary purpose. He instructed the sponsors tosend speakers who would be "inspirational" and"motivational" using personal stories to exposestudents to their industries.

"We've communicated to them that there arestudents from different backgrounds," Sakoda says."If there is a strong recruiting presence it willdetract from the educational experience."

In fact, participants say they were morecomfortable asking questions about business andrecruiting because they were not in an interviewsituation.

"It's a little less of a pressure situation,"says Joseph Osnoss '00. "In a recruiting session,students are a little reluctant to ask directquestions."

All the same, some students say there was adefinite "job fair" feel to the program.

"I expected it to be more educational," saysLonne A. Jaffe '99. "There were times when it feltlike an information session at the Faculty Club."

"Considering the amount of money they investedin the conference, that could be expected," hesays.

The opportunities weren't lost on therecruiters.

"If there are questions about how to apply toMcKinsey, now would be a great time to ask them,"says Scott L. Lessing '88, director of Harvardrecruiting for McKinsey.

Quenching a Thirst

The conference manifests a growing desire amongstudents for professional training before theygraduate.

Sakoda says the idea for the leadershipconference came from what he perceived to be alack of business education at the College.

And several of the conference participantsechoed Sakoda's observation.

John Turlais '96-'99, says the conference"fills a vast gap" in a Harvard education, citingrules against cross registering for HBS classesand the lack of business classes at the College.

"I ended up having to do an independentbusiness project to learn basic businessprinciples," he says. "[There are] very fewcourses that offer business education."

Cooke says the College supports students'efforts to supplement their liberal artseducation.

"[It's a] very appropriate role for a studentgroup to play if the students themselves identifythis need," Cooke says of the conference.

Business professors who spoke at the conferenceagreed with students that the conference hadnecessary educational component.

"I do believe an understanding of accounting iscrucial for an undergraduate planing a career inbusiness," says Professor Christopher F. Noe,assistant professor of business administration,Who led a finance discussion on Tuesday.

And Myra Hart, also an assistant professor ofbusiness administration says, "I think its reallyimportant to stimulate more interest in business."

In that regard, the conference seems to havebeen a success.

"It made me reasses my commitment to go intobusiness, and I'm going to be much more seriousabout the process this fall," Jaffe said.

"They really wined and dined us."CrimsonAparna SridharMORAL REASONING:Shad Professor ofBusiness Ethics JOSEPH BADARACCO lecturesparticipants on Tuesday.