Interview with Rothschild's Recruiting Coordinator Melinda Barrow

Wall Street Prep's Puneeth Kumar recently caught up with Melinda Barrow, the graduate recruiting & development coordinator at Rothschild. For the uninitiated, Rothschild is a venerable global advisory firm, and remains privately owned by the Rothschild family. Rothschild operates in 42 countries, employing 3000 people. In the United States, business divisions include financial advisory, mergers and acquisitions advisory, restructuring, and equity markets advisory.

What does Rothschild look for in a good candidate?
There are three main categories: demonstrated quantitative ability, motivation and drive, and communication. Each category has sub-components. Under demonstrated quantitative ability, Rothschild looks for academic achievement, knowing your technical lingo, and reasoning and analytical skills. Furthermore, Rothschild expects excellent grades in finance classes, but it’s okay to have one lower. In addition, knowing your technical lingo means understanding finance and accounting questions that could be asked but however you are not expected to know everything.

There is an increased focus on recruiting at non-core school candidates

Even if you haven’t taken as many finance classes, Rothschild tries to assess whether you have the correct analytical and reasoning skills that the job requires. In regard to motivation and drive, this category means having time management, self-management, and good extracurricular activities. Communication means having good writing skills for pitch books, and interpersonal skills for client interaction. Furthermore, Rothschild looks for someone with a likeable personality who can function in deal teams.

What does Rothschild look for in a candidate outside of the classroom? 
There are three main categories: clubs, drive and motivation, and knowledge of the financial industry. Rothschild looks to see whether a candidate has been involved in clubs on campus, both business and non-business clubs. Further, they look to see whether the candidate took on some type of leadership position within the club, and was not just a member. Also, the candidate should have interest in finance organizations. In regard to drive and motivation, a potential source could come from a sports team, especially the captain position. Another source could be an officer role in a finance club. Finally, knowing how the financial industry and how it works can help create a strong candidate. In fact, it can help create separation between you and other candidates by studying beyond the classroom.

Culture wise; is Rothschild different from its competitors in any way?  
The major difference is in advisory. Instead of underwriting securities, Rothschild’s business model is solely on advice. In fact, Rothschild may advise a client not to do a deal if they determine so. As a result, there a couple major culture differences. Number one is client first. Given the nature of the business, Rothschild puts utmost importance to the client relationship. Number two is always thinking longer term. Given Rothschild’s business model, this means that the people Rothschild hires are the biggest asset. Therefore, bankers need to be able to match clients and have to have the right mentality to work at Rothschild. More than just an analyst, you as a candidate should be able to create intellectual capital for Rothschild. Knowing how you will do so is very important.

Another difference is that your experience may be different than a bulge bracket given Rothschild’s size. At a firm like Rothschild, there is a really competitive environment that exposes you first hand to their various businesses divisions. However, at a larger firm there may be more career mobility, just by the sheer size of the firm. Rothschild considers those choices when a candidate applies, and what their intention may be.

How would you say the recruiting process has changed over the years? 
At the analyst level, much has remained the same. However, the one change is that there is an increased focus on recruiting at non-core school candidates. This process is carried out via phone interviews for the 1^st round selection. Then, there is the possibility that a candidate will be invited back for the 2^nd round, which is the super day. From there, offers are made. If you are in core school, the 1^st round will probably be on campus instead of over the phone, with the possibility of the 2^nd round invitation to the super day. Rothschild hopes that this creates an equal opportunity for both core/non-core school candidates.

Overall, it seems that knowing your numbers wins out on soft skills given the nature of the job... yet there does need to be a balance.

At the associate level, one major change is there is always a changing core-school list. Furthermore, it’s always harder to recruit and hire associates for a few reasons. Usually, most were not investment bankers before grad school, thus making the candidate pool much more diverse in background. Also, at the associate level there is a quicker succession in the firm. Unlike the two-year analyst program, there is potential for an associate to remain in the firm in becoming a senior banker, thus making the recruiting process slightly more difficult.

On a year to year basis, many factors affect the recruiting process. One is whether hiring is up or down for the year. Rothschild in any given year sees 50 to 100+ applicants per position, so whether hiring is up or down affects how many people Rothschild can take on board. Furthermore, at the intern level it’s very important to not slack off and stay competitive, asking the right questions, and doing your share of the work.

Also, how much should interns know coming out the gate? Is there more a preference in “soft” behavior skills rather than finance?
As an analyst and associate, there is no question that you need to know your numbers. However, each candidate is looked at individually for their particular background/knowledge. Overall though, it seems that knowing your numbers wins out on soft skills given the nature of the job. Yet, there does need to be a balance, as communication is something Rothschild values in its assessment of a good candidate. In a nutshell, what you know can only help you, not hurt you. Bringing that out an interview is critical to make sure you are a strong candidate.

What do analyst exits look like from Rothschild (after the 2 year analyst program)? 
Although percentages are misleading given Rothschild size, some of the following exits include continuing on with Rothschild for a 3^rd year, and possibly staying on with the firm, graduate school, and hedge funds or private equity. However, each individual at Rothschild has their own goals and perspectives and at the end of two years, Rothschild allows those individuals to do as they please.

Any advice for applicants regarding networking?
Networking as much as possible is extremely important, but must be done in a respectful manner. What this means is that use your career services department at school to look over a resume, not necessarily a banker or recruiter. Career services people are the ones who are paid to get to look at your resume and critique it. If there are individual questions you may have for a particular bank, then it may be helpful to reach out to that particular bank.  Also, keep in mind who you are emailing or reaching out to. Senior bankers should be addressed much differently than an analyst. For some students, where the only alumni from their particular school might be a senior banker at a firm, should be cautious in how they address that banker given their role in the firm. In addition, be wary of how many favors you ask of an individual, whether it would be a recruiter, analyst, or senior banker. For example, an automated email may be sent saying an application has been received, and hence there is no need to email the recruiter the same exact question which the automated email answered.