SG Cowen New Recruits by Thomas Delong and Vineeta Vijayaraghavan - Case Study Example

Table of Contents Overview 2 Evaluation of the Hiring Process Used by the Firm 3 Evaluation of the Criteria Used By This Organization in Making Hiring Decisions 5 Selection of Two Candidates and Reasons behind the Selection 5 7 Bibliography 8 Overview SG Cowen had become one of the major banks of the world by the year 2000. Societe Generale was an international bank founded in 1864 in France and after its collaboration with Cowen and Company; it came to be known as SG Cowen from the year 1998. By the year 2000, it had become one of the world’s largest banks in the world. By December 2000, they had acquired an asset of more than $430 billion. One of their aims was to place their foothold in the United States as an investment bank. At the inception SG Cowen had around 1,500 employees and they had planned to remain as a ‘boutique-sized firm’. The hiring process of the company starts in early spring and winter; therefore the candidates are expected to get involved with the company from summer. In spite of not going to business schools they have recruited various candidates as analysts and promote them to a first year associate when they complete their third year in the firm. A few candidates who have completed their internship of business school in SG Cowen get offer of full-time employment after their internship; therefore SG Cowen provide an opportunity for them to join in the subsequent summer after completing their course. Evaluation of the Hiring Process Used by the Firm SG Cowen accepts resumes from the students and conducts informal interview in their office before the formal first round of interview. Therefore, the students can get a chance to know about the industry and their various functions. In the meantime, the company can understand the desire, passion and seriousness of the students for the required position. The recruiting director of the company, Mr. Rae has chosen few banking professionals and bestowed the responsibility of captaining a team. The captain of the team is assigned for all those schools in which SG Cowen will go for campus recruitment. Prior to the commencement of the interview process, each captain of the team makes brief formal presentation of the company and then has an informal conversation with the students for a specified period of time. Subsequently, the informational interview is conducted. The students who are really interested for the company and its position make themselves thoroughly prepared for the first round interview. For selection of the candidate, SG Cowen follows two or three schedules which consist of both open and closed ones. In open schedule, the interests of the students are provided priorities and in closed one, the company selects the resumes of the candidates which have been previously submitted. In the first round of the interview session, the interviewers test the ‘culture fit’ of the candidates. They also try to find out the desired candidates who can make it during Super Saturday. Few bankers are generous in their judgment of the students while others are tough during their assessment. The details of the candidate’s profile are mentioned in the assessment sheet which may be helpful to the bankers. The six candidates out of twenty four have been shortlisted for the second round. The interview for the second round is conducted on the campus on the same night. Thus, the selected students can be invited for the Super Saturday. Super Saturday starts on Friday afternoon where selected candidates from different schools arrive and convene with the interviewers for cocktails and dinner at a restaurant. The next day, i.e. Saturday morning is again the time for final round interview. The interview session starts at nine consisting of five half-hour sessions for each candidate with short breaks. As a result, Super Saturday is hectic and exhausting for the interviewers and the interviewees as well. The interviewers have to come to a final decision related to the hiring process at the conclusion of this tiring procedure. After examining all the procedures and reference checks, the best candidate is selected for the requisite position of the company. By adopting the procedures mentioned above, the company goes for hiring the suitable candidates. Evaluation of the Criteria Used By This Organization in Making Hiring Decisions The organization uses various criteria while making hiring decisions. The recruiting director of the company uses grid sheets for bankers that are designed for hiring process. On behalf of the candidates, the bankers fill out the sheets and vote them individually. They are also required to make a case. The bankers oppose if any type of ‘science’ arise in the process of hiring. If the candidate is capable, he is informed about the details of his job and duties. Mr. Buchanan, the head of Equity Capital Market has created different jobs for the candidates that SG Cowen is required to hire. A company generally selects the candidates based on the human creativity and vigor and these may be the minimum requirements of the firm. These qualities, to a large extent, are essential for being a financial advisor in the firm on commoditized products. Selection of Two Candidates and Reasons behind the Selection The final selection of the candidates after completion of the entire interview process is a complicated and judgmental task. The final selection can create indecisions in the mind of the interviewer regarding which candidates to hire and whom not to. Through the entire selection process including interview it has been evident that all the four candidates are efficient in certain qualities and possess the skills required for working for SG Cowen and have certain deficiencies in certain aspects and in skills which are needed. Thus, SG Cowen’s interviewers required to hire the best two candidates among the four candidates according to the best fit with the organizational requirements based on their skills and efficiencies. Among the four candidates, who had undergone the interview process conducted by SG Cowen, only two will get hired by the firm. The two candidates who seem to deserve this position are Natalya Godlewska and Andy Sanchez. Natalya had completed her MBA at Cornell and passed the undergraduate course from a university in Eastern Europe with finance as special paper. Her grade is the highest within the finance department during her undergraduate course. She worked for four years in a company named CommScan. This company developed software related to M&A modeling which are used by different firms of Wall Street. Then she worked as a graduate teaching assistant in finance program at business school in Cornell. She has a good knowledge of financial market, her analytical skills and finance concepts are excellent too. Her interview session had also been much better. When a banker asked about her previous company’s supervisors for her reference check, they have provided positive information about her. Although two staffs of the company have not provided any positive report due to certain reasons. Her ‘culture fit’ and English language are not appropriate but these two aspects should not have an impact on her selection in SG Cowen as she has deep knowledge in financial field. By analyzing her knowledge, capability, qualifications, experience and also considering few of her shortcomings during the interview period, it can be assessed that Natalya Godlewska is an eligible candidate for the required position. Another candidate is Andy Sanchez, who is studying MBA at the University of Southern California. He has passed his undergraduate courses from UCLA in economics and then started his own business. He became successful as an entrepreneur. He was enthusiastic and pleasant during his interviews. He possesses a good personality to make friendly relationship with others. His outlook and knowledge in different fields are high and he has a desire to learn new things. Though his grades throughout his undergraduate and graduate courses are not so high, he has scored quite high in SATs and GMATs. His low academic record is due to his involvement in business. He was well versed with the recent developments in the financial field and also related to investment banking. He was also eager to embark on new challenges with renewed vigor and also told that his business would not come in his way as it would be run by his brother in his absence. After examining all the records related to his academic and interview period, it can be analyzed that he is a desired candidate for the required position of the company. Ultimately after analyzing all the pros and cons of the four candidates the above mentioned two candidates seems to be the best suited for the job at SG Cowan and they can be recruited. These candidates can make themselves worthy of working with SG Cowan and can become an appropriate recruitment for SG Cowen. Bibliography Delong, Thomas. & Vijayaraghavan, Vineeta. SG Cowen: New Recruits Harvard Business School, 2006. Read More