1. What is your evaluation of the hiring process used by S.G.Cowen?
S.G.Cowen uses the same pattern as the majority of Wall Street companies by making hiring decisions during the early winter and spring of each year so that the new associates can begin in the summer. Besides a full hiring process, the company selects some associates that already worked or are still working to S.G.Cowen utilising, therefore, internal sources of recruitment. First year associates selected internally can be analysts that after three years of collaboration (without attending a business school) are promoted or summer interns that attend a business school and are offered a full-time contract at the end of the internship.
The hiring process of S.G.Cowen in terms of new outside associates (that had never worked for the company before) underlies on presentations made by bankers in “core business schools” (for example NYU or Cornell) to inform the students about their work environment and conditions. The aim of these presentations is to make sure that four questions are answered: “who are we, what do we do, what distinguish us from competitors and what are the next steps”. This ensures that everyone receives a clear, complete and similar message from all bankers.
The next step is to focus on informational interviews to help them understand how students felt about working in a company like S.G.Cowen. These interviews are highly efficient because they work like a previous self-selection process. Only the most interested students in getting the job would attend these interviews so that they become more prepared for future application steps. This stage increases the possibility of avoiding costs and time waste with candidates that are not interested or that will potentiate a higher turnover rate.
After capturing the interest of those who genuinely strive for an associate position, the first