Their presentations are as glossy as their full-page Crimson advertisements. Free food at posh hotels. Young professionals in business suits smile at the undergrads and offer firm handshakes.

Valentine's Day is months away, but for investment banking and consulting firms, the courting season is in full throttle.

The firms' recruiting strategies are two-fold: they give out toys and colorful brochures at an annual career fair, and then present the details at fancy information sessions.

But seniors who are now going through recruiting say the main purpose of these sessions is not necessarily information. Most go to schmooze, already knowing which companies will be getting their applications.

With the companies trying to win students, and the students trying to win favor in recruiters' eyes, information can get lost somewhere in the middle.

Classified Information

The stock phrase from this year's recruiting sessions is a variation of: "We know a lot of these slide presentations and speeches sound alike. We're going to show you tonight what makes our firm stand out."

Some companies stress their high-powered clientele, some emphasize a relaxed working environment, some say it is hard to refuse their competitive salaries and benefits.

But students say they make decisions about firms based on their conversations with employees. They say that atmosphere is key in their decisions about where to apply.

"I think [the sessions] are for information during your sophomore and junior years," says Roanak V. Desai '00, and then it's all about connections. "By the time it's senior year, you go to meet new people or see new people so you know people there."

Firms encourage students to ask questions to determine whether the candidate and firm would have what have become key words in recruiting lingo: a good fit.

Some seniors, though, say they do not feel comfortable asking questions because the recruiters are recent graduates, and thus the seniors are by no means anonymous applicants.

Cheryl A. Gray '99, now a consultant at Monitor in Cambridge, says students are often too intimidated to ask questions. But the situation is not unique to information sessions, she says, comparing the atmosphere to a large lecture class.

"From that perspective you'll always get the people willing to ask the questions," Gray says. "It's also true that in a lot of cases they ask a question to make them sound intelligent or impressive but I'd again compare that to lecture."

So the companies provide a remedy. Instead of asking questions, curious students can choose to speak with company representatives at the end of the information sessions. The students say this also gives them a chance to learn about the character of a firm. Benjamin A. Rahn '99-'00 says students can overestimate the utility of this person-to-person interaction. "A lot use the opportunity to schmooze and get business cards and think it will help them in the process," says Rahn, who spent last summer as a consulting intern. "I don't think that's particularly useful. What is useful is coming prepared with questions to ask different people informally."

Rahn had suggestions for students who are not sure what questions will eventually help them decide where they want to work. He says asking firm representatives what they find exciting in their jobs is a good way to determine "fit."

They should also try "digging deeper" to learn the truth about the seamless company ideals presented in information sessions. He gave the example of the term "mentoring," which firms often use, but can mean many different things.

"We know at Harvard there are advising structures that don't always work," Rahn says. "It's the same in the business world."

Friends in High Places

Most information sessions are staffed by recent Harvard graduates, and companies and students say this is to give potential recruits a chance to speak candidly with their friends. But what does this mean for the student who walks into an information session without knowing a soul there?

Christine M. Rohrbeck '00, who has accepted an offer to work at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in New York next year, says such students face "an awkward social situation."

Recruiters admit that already knowing people in the firm can be a point in a candidate's favor. It helps executives determine whether a new hire will mesh with a company's culture.

"When you're dealing with a lot of the recruiting companies, you're not talking about something that necessarily requires the brainpower of a genius," Rohrbeck says. "I don't think they're necessarily looking for how smart you are, or how good your grades are. They're looking for intangibles, and I think it's really hard to portray that on a resume."

In addition to the resume, potential recruits usually submit a cover letter and transcript. About three interviews then lead to a job offer. Thus any contact that gives the company another data point to judge a candidate helps.

Connie S. Kolman, director of human resources at the Cambridge Strategic Management Group, calls recommendations from current workers "a data point for sure."

Eileen M. Grabowski, a vice president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, agrees that it is very helpful. But both stressed that their companies do not discriminate against unconnected candidates.

And Kolman says attending information sessions helps to prove a candidate's interest and enthusiasm in the company, although that is only a minor factor in the final evaluation.

Even when a company receives hundreds of resumes from a school, Grabowski says, recruiters can perceive the differences among them.

"I think even within a group of highly qualified people, some people stand out," she says.

Corporate Perks

Students may think the glossy brochures and jumbo shrimp are for their benefit, but the companies think they gain as much from these luxuries as the students.

Why does McKinsey & Co. hold its sessions at the posh and staid Loeb House? Why does Proctor and Gamble give every attendee a faux leather binder with calculator inside?

Recruiters say over an over again that the sessions let them "differentiate" themselves from other firms, although they emphasize aspects of their Power Point presentations over their hors d'oeuvres.

Gray says her company "sees it as a chance to present itself on campus but it's by no means their most important recruiting tool."

She adds that she thinks some companies feel they need to hold recruiting sessions to make sure that students "take them seriously."

Rahn pointed out that the expectation of a fancy face-to-face presentation can hurt smaller or less profitable companies' chances of attracting Harvard students.

"I think the problem is that to recruit students the way the big i-banking and consulting firms do is just beyond the means of smaller companies," Rahn says. "An educational non-profit can't fly people out to Harvard to recruit the way a Silicon Valley technology firm can."

Add the information sessions to the mugs, T-shirts and stress balls that proliferate during the fall recruiting sessions, and big companies are putting themselves in the spotlight. The next step is to differentiate themselves from the next big firm.

Thus, recruiters say the personal contact makes the information sessions worth their big bucks.

"I want to put people in front of candidates who can give them an accurate and honest answer to that question," Kolman says. "So that's one aspect of an information session that I think is incredibly valuable for students."