Kristen Fitzpatrick (HBS '03) is the Managing Director of HBS Career and Professional Development (CPD). In this role, she also coaches alumni and MBA students. Through her interactions with recruiters over the past decade, Kristen is familiar with many industries and how well HBS students and alumni will fit within those industries.

When we survey our students each year about what drives them to apply to our MBA program, moving their career forward is consistently listed as one of the top three reasons.  Some students want to pivot to a different sector, some want to gain skills to be even more effective in their chosen fields, but all students care about the doors HBS opens for them and the opportunities that await upon graduation. 

Our team has been working tirelessly to ensure the students in the classes of 2020 and 2021 still have the breadth of opportunities available to them that previous classes did, despite the devastating effect of COVID-19 on businesses around the world.   

To do this, we:

  • Made an appeal to our alumni and recruiting partners in April that resulted in nearly a thousand new full time and internship opportunities. 
  • Created hundreds of additional summer fellowships to enable students to pursue their passion without worrying about how much the role paid. 
  • Moved all of our high-touch resources to zoom so students could still access the 50+ coaches to help them think through their next move. 
  • Sponsored programs bringing together alumni who weathered previous recessions with our current students. 
  • Offered a full-time data science course over the summer for students to invest in themselves. The course culminated with students putting their skills to the test at the end of the summer during a practicum with a company. 

I have been so amazed by the support and creativity of the HBS community since COVID first changed our lives.  Seeing students, alumni, faculty and staff all pulling together to help our MBAs secure internships and full-time opportunities is something that will continue to happen as we support future HBS students. 

I hope you’ll join us on your journey!

Kristen Fitzpatrick
Managing Director, Career & Professional Development