Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP)

Human Resource Management

Case1: SG Cowen: New Recruits

Under the Guidance & Mentorship of

Prof Manoj Varghese

Submitted By

SANJAY BHATTACHARYA EPGP-10-063

1 Sanjay Bhattacharya EPGP10-063 HRM: Case1

A. Introduction
SG Cowen is a boutique financial service firm which serves in US & London. The
case explains the process and decision criteria the firm practice to recruits it’s
Associate.

B. Hiring process & Decision milestones

The hiring process for new associates begins in the fall which is closely monitored
and mentored by Chip Rae (Director of Recruitment) and Kim Fennebresque
(President & CEO). Before the recruitment process starts following decision are
taken at the planning stage:
1. Which schools should be targeted as core schools?
2. How many positions are available to be filled?
3. How many of the positions need to be filled from summer interns, promotions
and college hires?
4. How many rounds of interviews should be done?
5. Who all will the interviewers be?
Post the above decision clarity, recruitment process begins with company
undertaking presentations in the core schools, to educate about the company and the
USP for being part of SG Cowen, but also accept resumes from non-core schools.
Further the selection of candidates are accomplished by 3 distinct stages.

Stage 1 - Informational interviews

Post campus presentations, self-interested students were invited to visit the
SG Cowen office and interact with the company associates and senior bankers. Not
being an evaluative process still gave some insight about the candidate as follows:
1. Candidate interest level in the company.
2. Self-Starter attribute of the candidate.

Stage 2 - On campus round

In the on-campus round, interviews were conducted by associates or senior
associates, mostly by alumni of the respective schools to screen the candidates for
the “Super Saturday”. Senior employees were involved in the final interviews and
on closing offers, as it was also considered that the associates and senior associates

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will be more familiar with the requirements of the job and will be more rigorous in
assessing the skills. Two rounds of interview were conducted and finally
3 candidates were shortlisted from the school.
Important decision points considered in this stage are:
1. Associates and Senior Associates analyze, if the candidate possess the required
skill set for the job being offered. Since banking sector required specific skills
and candidate should be competent in those particular skill sets.
2. Candidates are also checked for the cultural fitment in the company which was
essential for the outperformance of company as associates have to dedicate
themselves for long workings hours and renounce social life.

Stage 3 - Super Saturday

The 30 students who were shortlisted by associates and senior associates during the
in campus round were called for final interviews in SG Cowen office. Each candidate
had to go through five interviews and each interview lasted for almost half an hour.
All the interviews were conducted by the senior employees of S G Cowen. The major
decision points which were considered while evaluating a candidate were as follows:
1. Does the candidate exhibit a pattern of success in their past life?
2. Will they really love working at S G Cowen?
3. Are they interested in technology and emerging markets?
4. Will they be committed to the firm and be loyal to the firm?
5. Do they have good interpersonal skills?
6. Will they be good team players?
7. Are they mature in their judgments?
8. Are they technically sound in core finance concept?
9. Are they flexible and versatile?

C. Assessment of current evaluation criteria

As described in the case currently the candidates are being judged on the basis of the
following parameters:
1. Commitment to firm: In the investment banking industry where firms are
fighting for talent and given that SG Cowen’s employees would be wooed by the
top banks, it makes all the more sense for the firm to measure candidate’s

3 Sanjay Bhattacharya EPGP10-063 HRM: Case1

 commitment to the firm. This can be gauged by the candidate’s profile, interest
shown in the informational interviews.
2. Judgment/Maturity: SG Cowen is a boutique Investment Bank wherein
associates and other employees have to take their own day to day decision to
establish a customer friendly and retention environment. Judgment and maturity
level are verified from feedback from past jobs and during personal interview.
3. Interpersonal skills: SG Cowen is a boutique Investment Bank where
associates are involved in a high level of exposure to clients. Well versed in oral
communication is crucial to perform their duties effectively. Candidates would
need to have very good inter-personal skills to be able to sell well. This can be
gauged during personal interview and past job feedback.
4. Leadership(Initiative and Motivation): Firm needs people who are
go-getters, self-driven individuals and ready to take initiatives without being
given instructions on what to do. This can be gauged by the past leadership
experiences of the candidates and whether they demonstrated a pattern of success
in such opportunities and the way they handled such an opportunity in their
previous work environment.
5. Technical Skills (Creativity, Modelling, Accounting/Finance and
Prioritizing): Firms Associates- technical prowess, number crunching skills,
domain knowledge of Finance & Accounting, creativity and ability to prioritize
is what helped one deliver his duties.
6. Work Ethic: Ethics is very important criteria for the associate representing the
boutique firm. Since associate will have all classified financial data of the clients
it is very important to maintain the highest level of work ethics or else firm will
tend to loose clients with a cascading effects. Ethics also holds quite important
within the process and dealings within the firm workings. This can be judged
feedback from past jobs.

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D. Suggestion
Firm should reduce selection based on subjectivity and move towards objectivity
which will involve reasoning and logical. Linear models can be created based on the
evaluation sheet provided by Rae with weightage as below:

Weightage out
Category of 100
Commitment to Firm 10
Judgement/Maturity 10
Interpersonal
Impact/Presence 5
Communication Skills 8
Leadership
Initiative 7
Motivation 8
Technical
Creativity 7
Modeling 7
Accounting/Finance 12
Prioritizing 6
Work Ethic
Team Player 7
Flexibility/Versatility 7
Motivation 6

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Based on the above model we can further evaluate the probable 4 candidates out of
which 2 have to be selected based on the interview inputs from the senior members
of SG Cowen.

Candidate Names
Weights
Category out of Natalya Martin Ken Andy
100 Godlewska Street Goldstein Sanchez

Commitment to firm 10 9 2 5 9
Judgement/ Maturity 10 7 7 3 9
Interpersonal Skills
Impact/ Presence 5 3 5 5 5
Communication Skills 8 4 8 8 8
Leadership
Initiative 7 6 7 6 6
Motivation 8 8 7 7 6
Technical Skills
Creativity 7 5 5 5 5
Modeling 7 7 5 6 5
Accounting/ Finance 12 10 5 9 5
Prioritizing 6 6 5 5 5
Work Ethic
Team Player 7 7 7 2 5
Flexibility/Versatility 7 7 5 7 5
Motivation 6 5 5 5 6
Overall Rating 100 84 73 73 79

From the linear model it is clear that 2 candidates to be selected for job offer are
Natalya Godlewska and Andy Sanchez.

------ Thankyou ------

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