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Case: SG Cowen: New Recruits
Human Resource Management








Submitted by:
Group 9
Sheshank Kumar 1303-41
Shubha Mishra 1303-42
Somyashree Khare 1303-43
Sougata Sarkar 1303-44
Sumati Arora 1303-45

PGDM- Executive
2013-14
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Case Summary

SG Cowen is a boutique sized investment banking (I-bank) firm, which was formed when
Cowen and Co. was bought by French banking giant Socit Gnrale in 1998 with the purpose
of finding a foothold in USA. Presently, SG Cowen's investment bankers focused on emerging
growth companies in two high-risk & high-gain areas: health care and technology; its equity
research team was highly regarded for the depth of knowledge and coverage of these two focus
areas.

As the needs/target of I-banks were niche, so there was a battle for hiring talent. Each bank had
to have a sure shot well defined hiring strategy to get the right mix of knowledge, skill, and
attitude. The case shows that SG Cowen is in the process of hiring a new class of associates. In
this process, there remain two available positions, and Chip Rae, the Director of Recruiting, and
a group of 30 bankers have four candidates to choose from. The group is having a hard time
deciding how they will extend the offers, primarily due to their different opinions based on a raw
formatted evaluation system.

Let's delve into the hiring process/strategy of SG Cowen. The I-bank has three pronged approach
to hiring a new class of associates:
1) Some were promoted to first year associates at the end of their three year stint with the firm.
2) Some, who started off as interns between their first and second year of B-school, were
subsequently promoted at the end of their internship.
3) New outside candidates were also hired as associates, as a part of SG Cowen's on campus
recruiting process targeted to some core B-schools. SG Cowen also accepted resumes from non-
core B-Schools students.

Initially SG Cowen only recruited from the top 10 of the Top 25 B-schools. But with Gregg
Schoenberg's initiative, the firm had become more receptive to targeting the 15 B-schools that
were below the top 10 in the list of Top 25. The initiative had paid of wonderfully. Also, Rae's
focussed and unique approach of involving the banking professional at the firm and not HR
professions was also an important factor in the recruiting process. SG Cowen's highly
customized and personalized recruiting process showed how involved they are in the process and
how choosy they are in recruiting. They want to recruit only those who were a dynamic
combination of the following: quick learners, love for the job and firm, culture fit,
entrepreneurial spirit, self-driven, good academics, good analytical skills, creative, energetic.

Chip Rae (Director of recruiting at SG Cowen), graduated from Amos Tuck School of
Business at Dartmouth, been a banker himself at JP Morgan.
His strategy was to assign team to every school at which SG Cowen recruited on campus, so that
students have a constant and familiar point of contact.
Now Rae has changed his strategy, new strategy was paying more attention to the next 15
schools in the top 25, rather than going to top 10.
Initially there was resistance from senior management, but as per Ray these students would be
more loyal.
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Super Saturday:
Hiring were going on a massive rate, they were using grid sheets for the bankers to fill out and
having them vote and make a case on behalf of their candidate.
Different opinions were coming altogether, some were saying that they want self-starters,
somebody was looking for culture, somebody was looking for human element specially
creativity and energy and so on.

Few candidates as stated are selected, now the dilemma was for among four candidates: Natalya
Godlewska, Martin Street, Ken Goldstein, and Andy Sanchez.
A brief about the candidates that are being considered for hiring is as follows:
1) Natalya Godlewska:
MBA student from Cornell, with first degree in finance from eastern European university
Highest GPA in first degree
Has worked for 4 years for CommScan, a company that developed M&A software used
by many major Wall Street firms
Moved to USA at the age of 22. Though fluent in 3 languages, not fluent in English
Impressive academics, analytical knowledge, understanding of finance markets,
hardworking ambitious, 'can do attitude'
2) Martin Street:
Second year Wharton student, involved in various sports activities
Served 4 years in military, showing leadership ability by leading rescue operation in war
gripped Bosnia
Dynamic personality, confident, articulate
Has received several plum job offers (So this makes SG Cowen unsure about Street's
acceptance of their offer)
3) Ken Goldstein:
Second year MBA student at Berkeley
Worked at PwC for 5 years, with an impressive rise in the company, and handling a multi
faceted profile (he might be too accomplished to be considered for an Associate level at
SG Cowen)
4) Andy Sanchez:
Second year student at USC, with a first degree in economics from UCLA
Very successful as an entrepreneur but less than average academic score
Very enthusiastic, personable, interactive, friendly, well informed and keen about the
firm

Decision is pending, and with candidates as diverse as above, and with bankers having diverse
opinions, and the weather playing spoilsport: decision is not going to be easy.


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Q 1. Evaluate SG Cowens current strategy for recruitment. What changes you would
suggest having an effective recruiting & selection strategy including target schools,
providing information to candidates and making final choices for SG Cowen.


SG Cowens current strategy

SG Cowen, like most of the firms on Wall Street, made hiring decisions in the early winters and
spring of each year so that associates can begin from summer.

SG Cowen fulfils the need of new first year associates from below 3 processes:
1. Promoting those who started off as interns with the firm between their first and second
year of B-school
2. Promoting associates that were hired as analysts
3. Fresh hires from target pool of core B-schools and the firm also accepted resumes from
students at non-core B-schools

Often SG Cowen professionals conduct informational interview with students in the office in
advance of official first round interviews. This was done for two reasons:
a. To find out the seriousness of applicant for the company
b. An opportunity for applicants to learn more about the firm and the industry

The company made presentations in the core schools and also accepted resumes from non-core
schools as well (where it was not participating in the on-campus recruiting).

On- Campus interview strategy : SG Cowen recruits new talent who have work experience and
acumen for the job being laid out for them. In the on-campus round, interviews were conducted
to screen the candidates for theSuper Saturday. These interviews were conducted by the
associates or senior associates of SG Cowen. This was because Rae believed that the senior
people of the firm should be involved in the final interviews and closing of offers. More often
there were two schedules which would amount to 24 candidates, which was further narrowed
down to six. This was further cut to half by a quick second round, the final ones were invited to
Super Saturday
Some key decision in this process are:
a. Required skill for the job
b. Culture fit for the company

Super Saturday : It began with an informal get together over dinner and cocktails on Friday
afternoon. The interviews began at 9 on Saturday, with each interviewer and each candidate
having five half hour sessions.
These interviews were conducted by senior executives of SG Cowen. This was followed by
voting and discussion on candidates.
From various selection criteria, it is learnt that SG Cowen evaluate on below in Super Saturday:
a. Committed to Firm
b. Original thinker
c. Culture fit
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d. Entrepreneur spirit
e. Good performer- Checked with academic grades
f. Flexibility in working
g. Maturity and analytical skill


Suggested Changes in recruiting process

Following are suggestions for improving the selection universe of the recruitment pool:
1. SG Cowen is confined to the top 25 colleges of US Talent is available everywhere, so
instead of just interviewing top 25 colleges SG Cowen should search in Job fairs as well.
This will help SG Cowen to get talent from other colleges as well.
2. As SG Cowen has good geographical reach:- SG Cowen should search candidates in
other parts of world i.e. Europe, Asia etc.

Suggestions for improving the recruiting process:
1. As each person thinks differently from the other so, rather than 5 consecutive interview
round on super Saturday. There should be knock out rounds i.e. 2
nd
round of interview
only if 1
st
round is cleared
2. Chip Rae should take the final interview round himself so that he can have his personal
view for each candidates
3. Culture fit criteria As SG Cowen gives first priority to culture fit category. But that
should be given rather 2
nd
priority. As firm is losing some good talent because of this
criteria
4. SG Cowen should hire more students as summer interns so that they can judge them
better. These students should be evaluated during internship and offered permanent
positions. The current numbers of interns confirmed are 8 which can be increased in
future.
5. MBTI assessment can be criteria to select candidates fit for SG Cowen
6. The below factors should also be considered for the recruiting process
a. Personal factors
- Analytical tests
- Decision making assessment
b. Personality
- Dominance
- Extroversion
- Patience
- Formality
c. Motivation
- Goals
- Interest
- Energy




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Q.2. What are the key decision points used by SG Cowen in hiring decisions?

SG Cowen uses a mix of background factors and personal factors in their recruitment process.

Key decision points related to 'background factors' related to the candidates being hired are as
follows:
Academic background: SG Cowen initially targeted students from top 10 of the Top 25 B-
schools. But with Gregg Schoenberg's initiative, the firm started focusing on the 15 B-
schools that were below the top 10 in the list of Top 25; this strategy paid off well as they
were able to get the crme de la crme from these B-schools. Though a good GPA was
preferred but more emphasis was given to entrepreneurial spirit and soft skills of the
candidate.
Experience: As they say 'experience is a great teacher', prior (relevant) work experience was
certainly preferred. The bankers involved in the hiring process were more focused on the
functional experience as it made the candidate more suited to the niche structure of the
Investment bank, which SG Cowen was.
It was preferred that the candidate be experience but not so experience that it would be
difficult for him to fit in the firm.

Key decision points related to 'personal factors' of the candidates being hired are as follows:
Strong analytical and creative ability
Quick learners with an independent decision making style
Culture fit in terms of: personality, working style, love for the job and firm, intensive
working hours, vision sharing
Ability to handle the pressure of the job and industry
Self motivated and energetic
Self starter
In the game for the long haul, i.e. committed
Ability to keep the dynamic style of SG Cowen alive and keep its good name with the
customers and in the industry


Q 3. Analyse the recruiting process by SG Cowen in detail. How differently would you
like to do the same? Why?

Analysis on SG Cowen recruiting process:
1. Informational interview:
Interested students were invited to visit the S G Cowen office in advance of first
interview round. This process was not evaluative but provided some insight into the
candidate.
Analysis of this process:
Good way to judge the seriousness of applicant for the company (the time and effort the
put in to know about the company)
Also depicts whether the candidate is a self starter and a quick learner or not
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What can be done differently?
Company visit was just for the informational visit as per SG Cowen recruitment process
but I believe interested candidate who visited the firm should be given be judged in a
better/formalized manned by using case studies, live project, etc.

2. Campus interview

What can be done differently?
The strong candidates evaluated during informational interview and On-campus
interview process should be offered joining letter on-campus itself and only candidates
requiring further evaluation should be called for Super Saturday

3. Super Saturday
The students who were shortlisted in on-campus round were interviewed on Super
Saturday. On Saturday morning, interviews began at nine and each interviewer and each
candidate had five half hour sessions.
The decision is taken on basis of following criteria:
- Academic qualification
- Culture fit (candidate-firm)
- Can do attitude
- Commitment to firm
- Interpersonal skills
- Leadership characteristics
- Entrepreneurial ability

In each round of interview, interviewer gives his decision as either a Yes or a No and
based on the further discussion among interviewers decision is taken on 'May be'
candidates.

What can be done differently?
Rather than 5 consecutive interview round on super Saturday. There should be knock out
rounds i.e. 2
nd
round of interview only if 1
st
round is cleared


4. Providing employment to the summer interns between first and second year of business
school

What can be done differently?
SG Cowen should hire more students as summer interns so that they can judge/evaluate
them during the internship and can be give job offers based on the evaluation.




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Q 4. Critically evaluate four candidates? Which two (out of four) will you be selected of you
are the panel at S G Cowen.

Evaluation of four candidates appeared in the interview:
Natalya Godlewska : Natalya was an MBA student at Cornell and had earned undergraduate
degree with highest GPA in finance department at eastern European university.
Strengths:
1. She was one of the top candidates from Cornell sent on to Supar Saturday.
2. Prior to business school, she worked in the industry for four years and showed her in
depth knowledge of the sector.
3. During interview she impressed all the interviewee by her analytical knowledge and her
understanding of the financial markets.
4. Natalya was highly recommended by her referee and she displayed a can do attitude.
5. She seemed very determined, ambitious and ready to work hard.
Weakness:
1. She seemed stiff and uncomfortable so she might not be good cultural fit with the other
associates.
2. Though she was fluent in different languages like Russian, Polish, and German, French
but her less than perfect English affect her ability to work with fellow team workers.

Martin Street: Martin Street was a second year Wharton MBA.
Strengths:
1. He had served four years in the military.
2. He had substantial leadership experience, he led a rescue operation in war torn Bosnia.

3. Martin had a very dynamic personality and he was confident and articulate.
4. He was involved in a number of activities as diverse as marathon racing.
Weakness:
1. Martin had no business experience.
2. He could not mention his grades due to college policy.


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Ken Goldstein: Ken Goldstein was second year MBA at Berkeley
Strengths:
1. Ken worked at PWC for five years.
2. He quickly rose to the post of manager at PWC and was in the top 5% of the firm.
3. He had positive evaluation from all his interviewers.
4. Ken managed multiple audit teams simultaneously and won multiple accounts.
5. He drew up budgets and pricing for projects at his previous firm and resolved various
technical issues for clients.
Weakness:
1. There were concerns that he might not be able to fit with team due to his experience at
high post in his last job.
2. He wanted to maintain his work life balance and give time to his family which might
not possible due to hectic schedule of an associate.

Andy Sanchez: Andy Sanchez was a second year MBA at the University of Southern California
and had completed his under graduate degree in economics at UCLA.
Strengths:
1. He was a successful entrepreneur and had a profitable business which he ran for three
years.
2. Interviewers found him very enthusiastic and personable.
3. Andy always sent follow-up mails and notes to everyone he spoke to and he was great
at making people relax.
4. He wanted to try out new challenges in banking sector so he left his venture and
joined in business school.
Weakness:
1. Though he had very good GMAT & SAT score but his GPA was very less.

If I were at panel of S G Cowen, I would have selected Natalya Godlewska and Andy Sanchez.