Do Your Homework for HP

Jason Rose manages the University Recruiting Program at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ), the Roseville, Calif., IT giant whose core business is computers and printers. Before starting to manage college recruiting in 2000, Rose held other recruiter-related positions within the company.

He and his colleagues are about to face a transitional period at HP. In February, the company ousted high-profile CEO Carly Fiorina. As of Apr. 1, Fiorina's replacement, Mark Hurd, who had been at the technology company NCR (NCR ), signed on as CEO and president, with the aim of setting the tech company back on track.

In the meantime, Rose says he is looking for MBAs who can take on roles in finance, marketing, supply chain and operations, or human resources, and who will bring a fresh, new perspective on business to HP. The recruiting manager, who graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in human resources and marketing before arriving at HP seven years ago, recently spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Francesca Di Meglio. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow:

Q: What is Hewlett-Packard's culture like?
A: I think HP is a fun, creative company. From the early days, we've been about innovation and changing technology. This culture empowers the employees. It's a self-managed organization. You're given a list of responsibilities and you're expected to manage them.

You have the opportunity to work with organizations that are cross-functional. You will work with people from across the globe because HP has a presence in more than 170 countries.

We don't have defined career paths at HP. One person has been with HP for 20-plus years and was always based in the same geographic location but has had four or five different types of jobs within the company, including marketing, finance, and HR positions. Then, there was another person who is a high-level finance manager who has pretty much had the same kind of role but moved around the globe for HP. The point is that you can have multiple careers and stay with the same company.

Q: How many MBAs do you hire in a year?
A: We don't disclose exact numbers. We had roughly a 5% increase in full-time hires and 10% increase in internships in 2004. For all of our campus visits for tech and MBA positions, we interview roughly 2,400 to 2,500 students annually. About 40% of those are MBA interviews.

Q: How do you decide where to recruit?
A: HP has a total of 47 targeted universities in the U.S. We tier the schools based on levels of support, whether we can physically get to the campus, how often we go to campus, etc. The vast majority of those schools represent universities in which we have a relationship with both the computer science and engineering school and the MBA program.

We look to have a comprehensive relationship with each university that might include research collaborations, areas in which we could offer philanthropy grants, and recruiting.

Q: What's your recruiting strategy?
A: Typically, we will visit many of the top schools two times a year -- in the fall for full-time and in the spring for internship recruiting. The first trip each year is to educate students about the company. We'll do a series of information sessions and informal Q&As to give students an idea of whether they are a good fit.

We follow up with meetings with student groups or career-development workshops. It varies by school. These campus trips culminate with a series of on-campus interviews to match up students with a job in the company.

Q: What is the route to getting a job at HP?
A: HP is unique in terms of how we do campus interviews. When we go on campus, we may or may not have certain job positions available at that point, but we know there will be an opening down the road. First, we interview students somewhat generically for corporate fit and to see if they have the soft skills --teamwork abilities, communication skills, etc.

When these jobs do become available, we already have a sense of what the student wants to do and where he or she would best fit in the organization. We match them up to job openings and the next series of interviews will be conducted directly through the business unit for which the student would work.

Q: What advice do you have for people who want a job at HP?
A: First and foremost, they should research the company. You're competing against a sizable number of people who want to work here, so it behooves you to have as much information on the company as possible. Utilizing any network -- say alumni from your school who work here -- is really beneficial.

Q: What can a recruit do to impress you?
A: There are two routes to getting a job at HP: Through on-campus recruiting or by applying on our Web site. Not only can the student view the job on the site to see the required skill set, but he or she can also apply online. A student impresses me when he says, "I have done some research. This finance position I found on the Web site was really interesting to me, and I have some background that relates to it."

Q: What's the biggest mistake MBAs make during recruiting?
A: They're too broad and general around the industry and company for which they are looking to work. Beyond industry, consider personal preferences like where you'd like to live and the type of culture that will fit your needs.

Q: Is there anything you would change about the B-school curriculum?
A: MBAs need to be able to communicate well with highly technical people at HP. They also have to be prepared to work in a virtual environment because it's possible that they will complete a project without ever having seen their team members [who work in other locations]. That's a big issue -- not to say that MBAs can't conquer it, but it's definitely an eye-opener for some of them.