Why We Recruit is a series of interviews with our recruiting partners covering a variety of topics ranging from their experience working with HBS to what they want students to know. New interviews will be released throughout the year to dive into unique perspectives of recruiting.
Name, Title and Organization
Katie Urban, Digital Strategy & Communications Specialist, CRC Companies LLC
Describe your organization in three to five sentences.
CRC Companies LLC (CRC) is a national real estate development and investment firm with over $7 billion of residential, retail, mixed-use, commercial, and land developments, spanning more than 60 projects, 38,000 residential units, 10,000 acres of land, and 50 million square feet of development. Grounded in a 100-year heritage of assured performance, we are operations experts with deep experience in originating, running, and sustaining large assets for the long-term. Our people see purpose beyond the built environment, creating value—and improving lives—through superior execution, innovative operations, and a passion for creating positive change in communities. Together, our teams solve complicated operational challenges and make big ideas happen across a full spectrum of services.
How long has your organization been recruiting at Harvard Business School and what roles do you hire for?
Our organization has a long history of recruiting at HBS. In fact, the leaders of several of our business units were recruited out of HBS in the early 2000s. More recently, we’ve proudly recruited at HBS in both spring and fall semesters since 2015, and we’re looking forward to being back on campus this fall. We look for top-tier candidates to fill both our full-time and intern Development Executive roles to work in one of our three primary business units—Development & Finance, Product Development, or Asset Management. Our full-time MBAs primarily work within one discipline that matches their past experience and interests to gain subject matter expertise in a certain function of real estate. The collaborative team approach provides overlap for MBAs to see all parts of our business—from acquisitions through execution. Our intern MBAs work within multiple business units to help determine where their real estate interests lie and gain broad exposure to the field.
What recruiting tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS?
We have found that partnering with the HBS Real Estate Club for on-campus information sessions and presentations ahead of first-round interviews has proven both mutually beneficial and successful. Generally led by one of our HBS alum team members, these in-person opportunities allow us to share our recent projects, company history, and a day-to-day look at our firm. It also is a great opportunity for us to network with potential candidates for both intern and full-time opportunities ahead of first-round interviews. In addition, we also launch a recruiting microsite each fall to give MBA recruits a better idea of our company culture, current project mix, and firm history.
Give us your elevator pitch – what is the one thing students should know about working for you?
CRC offers what few other real estate firms can: the capacity to have direct responsibility for the task at hand, regardless of the stage of the project. CRC employees are always on the front line, working together to solve problems and successfully manage assets through the various phases of development—and, we’re not afraid to have a little bit of fun along the way.
Is there anything else you would like to share with fellow recruiters or those who are new to recruiting with HBS?
HBS candidates are the best of the best—be sure to work with your Recruiting Relations Manager to develop a recruiting strategy that allows you to get on campus early and often to build your brand ahead of the Dedicated Interview Period in the fall and during prime intern recruiting season in the spring.
Name, Title and Organization
Katie Urban, Digital Strategy & Communications Specialist, CRC Companies LLC
Describe your organization in three to five sentences.
CRC Companies LLC (CRC) is a national real estate development and investment firm with over $7 billion of residential, retail, mixed-use, commercial, and land developments, spanning more than 60 projects, 38,000 residential units, 10,000 acres of land, and 50 million square feet of development. Grounded in a 100-year heritage of assured performance, we are operations experts with deep experience in originating, running, and sustaining large assets for the long-term. Our people see purpose beyond the built environment, creating value—and improving lives—through superior execution, innovative operations, and a passion for creating positive change in communities. Together, our teams solve complicated operational challenges and make big ideas happen across a full spectrum of services.
How long has your organization been recruiting at Harvard Business School and what roles do you hire for?
Our organization has a long history of recruiting at HBS. In fact, the leaders of several of our business units were recruited out of HBS in the early 2000s. More recently, we’ve proudly recruited at HBS in both spring and fall semesters since 2015, and we’re looking forward to being back on campus this fall. We look for top-tier candidates to fill both our full-time and intern Development Executive roles to work in one of our three primary business units—Development & Finance, Product Development, or Asset Management. Our full-time MBAs primarily work within one discipline that matches their past experience and interests to gain subject matter expertise in a certain function of real estate. The collaborative team approach provides overlap for MBAs to see all parts of our business—from acquisitions through execution. Our intern MBAs work within multiple business units to help determine where their real estate interests lie and gain broad exposure to the field.
What recruiting tactics have you found most successful in engaging with students and/or alumni at HBS?
We have found that partnering with the HBS Real Estate Club for on-campus information sessions and presentations ahead of first-round interviews has proven both mutually beneficial and successful. Generally led by one of our HBS alum team members, these in-person opportunities allow us to share our recent projects, company history, and a day-to-day look at our firm. It also is a great opportunity for us to network with potential candidates for both intern and full-time opportunities ahead of first-round interviews. In addition, we also launch a recruiting microsite each fall to give MBA recruits a better idea of our company culture, current project mix, and firm history.
Give us your elevator pitch – what is the one thing students should know about working for you?
CRC offers what few other real estate firms can: the capacity to have direct responsibility for the task at hand, regardless of the stage of the project. CRC employees are always on the front line, working together to solve problems and successfully manage assets through the various phases of development—and, we’re not afraid to have a little bit of fun along the way.
Is there anything else you would like to share with fellow recruiters or those who are new to recruiting with HBS?
HBS candidates are the best of the best—be sure to work with your Recruiting Relations Manager to develop a recruiting strategy that allows you to get on campus early and often to build your brand ahead of the Dedicated Interview Period in the fall and during prime intern recruiting season in the spring.
