Links of Note: June 29, 2007

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Links of Note: June 29, 2007

June 29, 2007 11:13 AM Posted by mac

The Professor Is A Headhunter
(BusinessWeek)

BusinessWeek explores the murky relationship between talent-hungry corporations and professors.

"Around the country, B-school and undergraduate professors with ties to big companies routinely recommend their best students as potential hires. Of course, recruiters continue to avail themselves of campus job fairs and more traditional means of scouring for talent. But more often than most students realize, money is part of the recruiting process."

It would be improper for funds to change hands directly, so corporations use sneaky-smart end-arounds to "fund" professors in other ways.

"... professors who receive corporate consulting fees or research grants sometimes pass along promising names as part of their relationship with companies hungry for talent."

Impropriety is one of those issues that seems clear in theory, but often becomes opaque when submitted to real-world context. I'm sure many professors look upon these financial kick-backs as a win-win situation: the professor creates opportunities for top students and the professor's school/department adds to its coffer.

But this is a slippery slope. Professors, whether they realize it or not, are playing favorites with select students. If favoritism was based on quantifiable elements -- like test scores or student projects -- maybe, maybe this process would work. But we all know that human nature is unavoidable. People gravitate toward people because of personality types or empathy or -- in worst-case scenarios -- physical attraction. Professors are no different, which is precisely why some schools have Draconian codes of conduct.

Of course, there's a straightforward way to avoid this mess: take the money out of it and set up reference restrictions. The money issue is obvious -- axe bling from the equation and the stank of impropriety lessens -- but reference restrictions are a little tougher. Good professors pride themselves on maintaining contacts with the business world and these contacts often open doors for students. This type of networking shouldn't change, but the process should. Instead of acting as corporate headhunters, professors should work with students to help them pursue business opportunities.

I've done this on a number of occasions. A student asks me about internships or jobs in the Web journalism world and I pass along contacts that the student can use to pursue a position. I don't follow up with my business contact because that's the student's job. I'm simply opening a door; the student chooses whether or not to go through it.

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