Sg Cowen Essay

1106 Words5 Pages
SG Cowen Case Write-Up SG Cowen, as a boutique finance firm, has had to tailor their hiring process very specifically to meet the needs of the firm. A key feature in their recruiting is that they generally do not target the top 10 business schools in the country. Rather, they chose to drop down to the next 15 schools to find their candidates. This way, Cowen is pulling from the top of the class rather than the middle of the class at the top universities. They found that this gave them much more loyal candidates, who were self-starters and fit the company much better. Cowen primarily trades in health care and technology companies. Thus, these two areas became a specific evaluation point for recruiting. Cowen clearly takes into account the technical skill of each candidate when making these hiring decisions. On the other hand, they also account for personality and less measurable qualities if the associates believe the individual will be successful at Cowen. Determining who would be successful at Cowen was the difficult part. The company had a distinct culture that it hoped candidates would embrace. Significant autonomy was given to its associates. They needed to be quick on their feet and be able to produce without direction. This lead Cowen to search for self-starters and intrinsically motivated individuals who would create the most value for Cowen. The interview and selection process reflected these goals: * At each of the core schools, team captains were designated to go on-campus and give information sessions to students. Students from outside these core schools were also considered. * Once the initial sessions took place, Cowen designated an open and closed interview session at each school, where they would further narrow down the list of candidates. * Depending on the number of slots needing to be filled, candidates would be
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