Job Descriptions

Upload job descriptions in COIN before your corporate presentation in the fall or one month before the position's application deadline, at the latest.

Best Practice: Upload job descriptions to COIN as early as possible before your company presentation and be very detailed regarding the position’s function, requirements, location, and work authorization to ensure that you receive the most prepared candidates. If job descriptions are uploaded late (less than one month prior to the application deadline) or are ambiguous, companies may be disappointed in application numbers.

Application Due Dates

Applications must be solicited through COIN for all positions companies will recruit for on campus. Companies may require additional means of application if they wish; this information may also be communicated to candidates through COIN.

Application deadlines generally default to 9 a.m. ET one week before the invitation-list due date. 

Interview Policies

Firms may conduct a full-time interview with a Columbia Business School Class of 2021 student off campus, at their earliest convenience, provided the allotted time does not conflict with a student’s academic commitments. We encourage networking with our September- and January-entering MBA students and select EMBA and MS students prior to the start of their second year.

• Interviews taking place on campus begin Friday, October 9, 2020.
• Recruiters must advise the CMC of plans to hold off-campus first-round interviews to avoid significant recruiting conflicts. This notice must include the number of candidates to be seen and the expected duration of interviews.
• Companies should offer an alternate date and time for second-round and/or out-of-town interviews for students with scheduling conflicts.
• Interviews (on or off campus) may not take place during blackout dates.
• Students should not be expected to interview outside the New York area on class days (Monday through Thursday).
• If candidates are required to travel to other cities to interview, your organization’s policy on travel reimbursement should be clearly outlined in advance.
• Companies choosing to interview students on Friday evenings or weekends must be prepared to accommodate students who request an alternate day for religious reasons.
• Companies should update candidates of their status within two weeks of interviews taking place.

Interview Blackout Periods

Students should not be asked to interview during exam and blackout periods. There are also event blackout dates to keep in mind when planning your recruiting schedule:

• Independence Day holiday July 3–6
• Midterm exams July 7-8
• Labor Day September 7
• Yom Kippur September 28
• Midterm exams October 13–19 — full-time interviews allowed
• Election Day holiday October 30–November 3
• Thanksgiving holiday November 25–27
• Study Days/Final Exams December 9–18
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day January 18
• No on-campus recruiting January 19
• Midterm exams March 9–12
• Spring break March 15–19
• Final exams May 4–14
• Commencement May 19

Offers for Full-Time Positions

• Offers may be extended at any time. Full-time offers, including those to summer interns, must be held open until Friday, November 6, 2020, or for three weeks, whichever is later.
• The fundamental terms of an offer must remain unchanged until the expiration date, although incentives encouraging students to commit before the deadline are permitted, so long as incentives are small relative to the overall value of the offer.
• Companies should not make conditional offers or ask questions implying a conditional offer—for example, “If we made you an offer, would you accept it?” Student feedback indicates that this makes firms appear desperate and lacking confidence in the recruiting process. Furthermore, conditional offers do not allow students time to consider their options.
• Hiring organizations should inform students of their status and/or timeline for decisions within two weeks of their interviews, regardless of outcome.
• The rescinding of a verbal or written job offer, unless done under extenuating circumstances such as unforeseen business conditions or egregious student behavior, is a very serious violation of Columbia Business School recruiting policy and will be handled accordingly. Delayed start dates of an extended period may be considered rescinded offers as well. Sanctions against firms in violation of this policy will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Any organization considering rescinding an offer or delaying a start date should first contact Dan Gabriel, Director of Employer Relations.
• Students who accept offers verbally or in writing and then renege on that commitment have violated recruiting policy and the Columbia Business School Honor Code. Sanctions will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will include disciplinary action, which may result in the suspension of recruiting privileges and/or a requirement to appear before the Dean’s Disciplinary Committee.

Click here for Internship Offer Policies.

Pre-interview Dinners and Sell Days

Pre-interview events the night before interviews are generally not allowed. Exceptions may be made for companies traveling from outside the New York tri-state area. Please consult Nadege Jean-Romain, Associate Director of recruiting events, or your firm’s account manager about your company’s circumstances.

Sell events should never conflict with academic commitments and are therefore best held on Fridays or Saturdays. Additionally, firms may not invite students to sell events or other post-interview events until offers have been extended.