SG Cowen Case Study Essay

This will allow them to widen their talent pool. An item they should be looking to do is formalize
their grading metric during Super Saturday. After reviewing some of the sheets used by the
interviewers, it looks like there could be more consistency across the board. Also centralizing the
grading system can perform some kind of uniform method that the interviewer could assign a more
specific grade can help in the deliberation process for the people that fall in the “maybes”.
Also considering that many of these individuals who are interviewing candidates on Super
Saturday are not Human Resource professionals, training as to how to properly conduct an
interview can prove to be beneficial. Although it is valuable that the interviewers were all at one
point in the same position as the candidate looking to become an Associate, it can also sometimes
prevent interviewers to be objective while interviewing.
An underutilized assessment method I feel that New Recruits Case of SG Cowen could benefit
from is an in basket exercise. I believe this would a valuable tool in helping to assess whether or
not the organization will benefit from this candidates skills. SG Cowen emphasizes the importance
of a culture fit and the ability to work in certain situations, and having the interviewers be actual
associates and bankers they do have the opportunity to give the candidates a realistic job
preview. Also they are looking for candidates that are more traditionally banking centric and are
not looking to expand in technology and other fields that banking institutions.
In using an in basket exercise, this will allow candidates to demonstrate how they would handle
particular situations that often arise in an Associate’s first year. They are able to demonstrate their
business and banking savvy. The cost of implementing this assessment method would be mainly
the time invested in allowing candidates to execute it, there may not be actual real costs involved
since the majority of the exercise would be theoretical, so there would be no actual items to
purchase for and would mainly be used to measure the way the candidate would approach the
given situation, hopefully a real life situation that may have occurred in the. The utility of this is
also apparent, in using and in basket exercise, you are presenting the candidates with situatio ns
similar to what they will come against as an associate, this can be considered a direct correlation
as to how successful a candidate would be in the position. A potential adverse impact of the mixed
basket could be that finding situations that are appropriate to use. Also the time constraints in
trying to perform these in basket exercises can prove to be detrimental. Although there can be a
variety of issues in executing this assessment method, the potential gain from doing an in basket
exercise I believe can be very valuable in predicting the success of a hire.
The idea of Super Saturday can be daunting not only those who are being interviewed, but the
interviewers also, to help prevent decisions being made in haste so they can make sure that they
make the right decision. This is quite important considering the great emphasis put on the talent
SG Cowen new recruits case analysis solution looks for in their associates.
Every candidate needs to go through the same deliberation process. Clearly some of the candidates
instantly have the approval of all the managers on hand, this is why it is important to make sure
the assessment is explicit in what it is measuring, so it can be clear as to why the candidates who
were instantly chosen. Then when debating candidates that may not be an instant choice, the areas
in where they lack or are strong can be clearly identified.
Chip should also look for a way to streamline the interview process, the fact the candidates have
to sit through multiple one on one interviews. It might be more beneficial to utilize the panel
interview process during Super Saturday. Perhaps have the senior most managers on a panel and
also individual interviews with managers below them. The panel interview will allow Rae to be
able to include all the senior most members of the organization he wants but also allowing Super
Saturday to be more efficient.
The Super Saturday issue always falls My top candidate would be Natalya Godlewska, the reason
being I believe her credentials are impeccable, her background is beyond impressive and her
knowledge of the banking industry both domestically and internationally could be extremely
helpful, considering SG Cowen is also a French bank. She received glowing recommendatio ns.
Her initiative in getting in touch with the Cornell Business School recruiter and setting up an
informational interview where she attended on her own accord, speaks volumes as to the fact that
she has a clear interest in working for SG Cowen and feels that she can benefit from what the
organization has to offer her.
The second candidate I would choose would be Andy Sanchez. Andy Sanchez is a self-starter and
an entrepreneur, running a highly successful company while still in school. The only real hesitatio n
is his less than stellar GPA. This I can overlook due to the stresses of running a company and all
the experience he gained in doing so. His interest in SG Cowen did not wane and he did make it a
point to come to the office whenever he was in town and was conscientious enough to follow up
consistently. It appears that he is committed in being up to date in the current banking industry and
SG Cowen themselves With that being said I think he would benefit the most with the built in
succession plan at SG Cowen.
The third choice I would pick would be Ken Goldstein. Ken’s experience speaks volumes as what
he can offer SG Cowen; in fact he interviewed well with everyone and would normally be an
automatic yes. The major issue here is more of a cultural fit; it is almost as though Ken is
overqualified for the position. He’s already accomplished so much in the banking industry, at a
higher level than what he is currently being considered for. This may pose as an issue that he may
become unhappy in his position feeling underwhelmed and it can affect the work he puts out. His
personal commitments may affect his work, the hours are demanding and based on the desires Ken
has in maintaining his personal commitments come in direct conflict at what might be expected
from him as a first year associate. I turn this may not be a good organizational strategy fit.
The final choice I would pick would be Martin Street. Of all the candidates, Martin’s background
did not impress as much as the others. His background does not have a lot in the financial industry,
although his personality may come through as dynamic and that is something SG Cowen can
appreciate, Martin’s desire to be at SG Cowen is questionable at the same time. He is vocal about
having his options open, and it was even difficult to schedule his interviews for Super Saturday
due to his other recruiting process. A major cultural requirement for potential SG Cowen
employees is to be invested in SG Cowen, before SG Cowen can be invested in them in whole.
All in all SG Cowen’s hiring process is quite impressive. The care they put into picking their
employees speaks to the care they put into their work. They understand the caliber of employee
needed in their market is important to be successful as an organization, and their practices
demonstrate that.