Question for analysts involved in OCR

Curious who you will pick for a first round interview: 1 Stellar resume candidate with many internships who has only talked to 1 or 2 people 2 mediocre resume candidate with no finance experience who talked to everyone on the team

14 Comments
 

Never picked resumes but I'd assume the latter gets the spot if 1-2 people on the team likes that person.

 

I understand to break into banking you need to be both excel in technical questions and network well, but what on earth is more important between these two?

 

On recruiting team at a BB

Candidate 1 every time. 9/10 hired candidates check every box of resume/internships (6/10 of those have also networked heavily). The 1/10 with mediocre resume is extremely personable, hit it off with VP/MDs, and occasionally has some other hook (athlete, entrepreneur)

I'm speaking only for those receiving offers - the bar is less high for first round interviews as those are a wider net

 

How much do you think networking matters in the process? If a person with good resume at a target simply applys on Handshake and company website, will he get an interview?

 

This is how I understand it, but I’m still an undergrad so could be wrong.

Most kids seriously pursuing banking will be networking, so you’d only be putting yourself at a disadvantage to your peers. If you have OCR, you’re essentially competing against your classmates for a limited number of spots. That being said, maybe if you’re an exceptional candidate you don’t need to network quite as hard. Still, though, as you advance further in the process I’d guess that the more familiar the team is with you, the better.

 

Not the one who MS you but -

Most people at a target have good resumes so no, just applying won't necessarily give them an interview. If they've networked they may be top of mind as we look at their school. Someone with strong work experience or a standout resume also gets an interview.

When you have 50+ really strong resumes the 3.8+, generic finance experience/involvement, cookie cutter kids really blend together. Putting a face to the name is helpful but you still have to have a good enough resume

 
Most Helpful

I'm the recruiting captain for my school at an EB. I would say its hard to make blanket generalizations with regards to your question. Context is key.

Did the kid with the nice resume with lots of internships only get them because mommy and daddy put in a few phone calls to their friends, or did they genuinely hustle to get those gigs?

Why did the kid that talked to everyone on the team have a mediocre resume, were they an athlete in a sport that demanded an inordinate amount of time, or are they a genuinely bad student that spent all their time screwing around and daydrinking in college?

Those are kinda the variables I think about when screening resumes, in order to come up with a mosaic of what type of person a candidate is, and whether or not they deserve an interview.

 

Thank you for the reply. When you screen resumes, how much do you care about if the person behind the resume has talked to you either in person or over the phone?

 

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