S G Cowen : New Recruits

PRES ENTED BY - GR OU P 1
Ankur Sharma
Anish Gupta
Prakhar Nagori
Pratyush Lahiri Choudhary
Raghav Bhatnagar
Vinay Jain
Ya s h v a r d h a n K a b r a

Investment Banking Industry

Widespread
Consolidation

Increased Public
Scrutiny

Dearth of Talent

Dependence of
Professionals

Characteristics

Competition in Labor
Market

Competition in
Financial Market

Company Background
In 1998

France-based
Socit
Gnrale
Group

Acquires

US-based
Cowen

Forms

SG Cowen

Boutique- Size: Asset Base of $430 billion

SG Cowen:
Organizatio
nal Traits

Focuses on Volatile, yet Highly Profitable Sectors: Healthcare and Technology

Mid-Sized: Lean, Flexible, Lack of Bureaucracy

Hiring Process
1

Decision
Made in
Winter/Sprin
g
Involved
Maybe
decisions and
buffer offers

2.
1
2.
2
2.
3

Internally

New Hires

Presentation
at Core
Schools

Interns

Final
Discussion
and Offers

Shift from top

10 to
additional 15
6

Super
Saturday

Assignment
of Team
Captains
Addition of
non-core
applications
5

Campus
Interview

Informationa
l Interviews

Company Presentation
Happened well before the interview rounds
Addressed four questions

Who we are
What do we do
What distinguishes us from competitors
What are the next steps

Encouraged employees to make small presentation

Give substantial amount of time to informal talk
Fine line between helping the students and giving them unfair advantages

Criteria for Hiring

Primary
Criteria:
The
Candidate
who

Demonstrates a pattern of success

Is a fast learner
Feels excited while serving the client and competing at highest levels

Cultural
Fit

Informational Interview
First stage ahead of formal interviews
Helped firm to gauge the seriousness and enthusiasm of candidates
For candidates, it helped to learn about the firm and industry
Team captains
Banking professionals
Alumni

Some candidates might receive an advantage due to their initial

informational interviews

On Campus Interviews
Conducted by associates/ senior associates
Encouraged to take detailed notes during the interview
Identification of talent
Assessing skills

Liable for the quality of candidates brought

Easier to handle by HR

Associates are associates

Breadth & long term view
Future peers and rivals

Super Saturday
Interviews are conducted by senior employees of S G Cowen.
Multiple interviews/ interviewers: The candidate has to go through five
interviews lasting half an hour each
Yield: 66%
Pseudo social setting with a formal interview process
Attributes looked for in the candidates: Commitment to Firm, Maturity,
Interpersonal and technical skills, leadership and work ethics
Interviews completed till noon

Recruitment Funnel
Initial Screening

Rejected
applications

On Campus
Round

3-4 selected out

of 24
Selections based
on final req.
adjusted for nonjoiners

Super Saturday

Selected
candidates
10

Candidate 1: Natalia Godlewska

Highest GPA in the finance
department
Speaks five languages
Strong finance background
Impressive work experience

Relatively weaker command over

English

Committed & hard-working

Potential lack of cultural fit

Strong references

Relatively stiff and uncomfortable

during the small talk

Candidate 2: Martin Street

Presentation and articulation skills
Dynamic personality
Confident and focussed
Ability to carry out orders

No business experience

Substantial leadership experience

Involved in recruiting events at

other firms
Uncertainty about grades
Involved in other selection
processes, indicating possibility to
switch to other firm

Candidate 3: Ken Goldstein

Experience at PWC for 5 years
Excellent recommendation
Accepted by every interviewer
Good culture fit

Too mature
Difficulty to take orders
Married with 2 children
Lower willingness to work 24/7

Candidate 4: Andy Sanchez

Enthusiastic and personable
Very high score at GMAT and SAT
Fit in the company culture
Friendly and good at making people
relax
Successful entrepreneur

Low GPA
Possibility to leave the company
and turn back to his own business
Unsatisfied compensation/ salary

Evaluation Sheet
Factors Considered
Commitment to the firm
Judgment/Maturity
Interpersonal Skills
Leadership
Technical Skills
Work Ethic

Candidate Evaluation
Chart Title
4.5

4
3.5
3

4
3.5

3.5

2.75
2.5

4
3.5 3.5

2.5

1.5

3
2.33
2

1.5
1

0.5
0

Commitment to firm Judgement/Maturity Interpersonal Skills

Candidate 1

Candidate 2

Leadership
Candidate 3

Technical Skills

Candidate 4

Work Ethic

Recommendations for Final

Selections
Overall Performance
19.5
19
18.5
18
17.5

The candidate 4 i.e., Andy Sanchez seems a clear selection

However, there is a close call between candidate 1 and 3

Taking in mind the importance given by the company to commitment to the

work and group fit, we think the company should proceed with candidate 1

Final recruits:

Andy Schenz
Natalia Godlewska

17
16.5
16
15.5

Overall Rating
Candidate 1

Candidate 2

Candidate 3

Candidate 4

Assessment of the Selection

Process
Pre-recruitment

Lack of attention to
resumes from noncore schools
Evaluation of
candidates from
non-core schools to
be done during
office hours
Lack of interviewer
training

On-Campus Round

Potential for bias

due to preevalauation during
informal talks and
informative
interviews
Employees forced to
work with strict
timelines e.g. late
interview rounds
Senior employees
are less demanding
w.r.t. candidates
skills, junior
associates are much
stricter

Super Saturday

Senior managers
want to get done
with very quickly
since its on a
holiday
Selectors might be
biased based on
their own team
preferences and
demands
Difficulty in building
concensus

Way Forward
Human capital is arguably the most valuable resource of any organization
It is critical to select the best candidates to enhance company value and
achieve strategic goals
SG Cowen needs to reconstruct its recruitment and selection process to
more effectively identify optimal recruits while eliminating current
tendencies of subjectivity, discrimination, and hurried decisions
We believe that providing the bankers with HR interview and selection
training, implementing more standardized, defined assessment measures,
and encouraging greater time commitment would be beneficial changes to
better select new hires

Way Forward
Process
Improveme
nt

Interviewer
Training

Reconstruct its recruitment and selection process to more effectively identify

optimal recruits while eliminating current tendencies of subjectivity, discrimination,
and hurried decisions

Providing the bankers with HR interview and selection training, implementing more
standardized, defined assessment measures, and encouraging greater time commitment
would be beneficial changes to better select new hires