Informational interviews by SG Cowen
The SG Cowen’s informational interviews seem to be in line with the company’s corporate culture that values initiative and ambition almost as much as expertise. On the one hand, such an approach is certainly advantageous since it helps the applicants learn about the company and the industry and allows SG Cowen to filter out unmotivated applicants. At the same time, other selection tools yield the same results. For instance, if the applicants have to go through several application rounds or do a company-related case study, those of them who are not genuinely interested in SG Cowen will also self-select at a certain point. This is important because informational interviews are somewhat morally ambiguous as they emphasize a personal connection to someone within the company. Such a practice resembles nepotism since certain applicants may be able to get a job merely because a company’s employer favors them.
Negative hiring experience within an organisation
While the SG Cowen’s hiring process is most certainly rigorous, it is, nevertheless, not necessarily efficient. The main flaw of its design is that those making the hiring decisions (that is, the bankers) seem to be there for the wrong reasons: they enjoy asserting influence and being the decision-makers but they do not necessarily have the company’s best interests in mind. Moreover, the selection process is unstructured and not formalized, and the selection criteria are unclear and flexible.
While such a design has its advantages as each application is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, it also allows for personal and subjective preferences to come into play. For instance, one application is being evaluated based on her “cultural fit” even though she has lived in the United States and there is nothing to support the claim that she may have difficulties adjusting. Even more importantly, another applicant’s marital and family situation is discussed even though it is illegal to discriminate against a potential employee on this basis. If I could influence the hiring process, I would define at least minimal standards and rules that set the boundaries as to what should or should not be relevant to the decision-making.