Does it help if an HR person knows you personally at a BB?

I'm applying to SA internships at a bunch of banks. I think I made an impression on someone in HR at MS during the employer presentation at my school. Does it help at all that an HR person remembers me or is it necessary for someone in IB or S&T to remember me?

21 Comments
 

I don't know about the US, but in Europe HR very often conduct first round interviews. It is also common for boutique places to care very much what their HR have to say as these people (let's be honest, girls) have a feel whether a candidate would blend well with X, Y or Z team.

On the other hand though, this does not guarantee anything yet definitely is a plus for you.

 

In Australia, is it usually HR for the phone rounds then Analysts level people for first round first that conduct the interview. They have probably already made a note of it of that impression and people interviewing you will be aware of it.

 

While analysts and associates do get to do OCR interviews, they are almost always paired up with a SVP/D/MD who is basically the decision maker. But to your question, knowing a HR person can't hurt and I've seen HR pull for candidates during resume selection roundtables (but the weight of their opinion depends on his/her pull with the school captain/head who is a senior banker)

 

You should be trying to make a great impression with everyone. That includes everyone from HR to the MDs to the assistants. You're overthinking this too much. All you need to worry about is being friendly, likeable, and memorable to everyone. And keep everyone in the loop of your journey. You'll have all your bases covered. Stop worrying about charting out how much of the decision is controlled by who.

 

I also have a question:

When you guys are trying to get a interview in some firm. Do you guys enter in contact with HR or a person that works in the area of your interest?

 
Best Response

See my story: //www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/how-i-broke-into-finance-bb-st

Or if you're lazy, here's the relevant part:

How did I get that BB S&T interview and offer? It was pure, unadulterated luck. Like I did with all the other bulge bracket banks, I went to the company's main information session one evening and chatted with the sales and trading people there. Somehow, I managed to have a short conversation with the fixed income S&T recruiter (if you ever read this, thank you for getting my foot in the door; I have come a long way since that evening) and for God knows what reason, she decided to invite me to a target candidate breakfast the next morning because someone had backed out at the last second.

Honestly, I didn't even want to go because it was an 8am breakfast and my first class wasn't until 11am (current college kids you feel me, right?), but I dragged myself out of bed the next morning and was given a handwritten name tag when I walked in the door (everyone else had printed ones, confirming my suspicion that this was a select event and I was lucky to be there). During that hour, I just sat and ate my breakfast quietly and asked maybe one question the entire time, and afterward I remember thinking that I lost those 3 hours of sleep for nothing. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I received the interview a few months later and I knew it was probably related to that breakfast. Then it turns out that my first round interviewer was at that breakfast and we remembered each other. Consequently, I was invited to the superday the next day in NYC and my first interviewer really liked my involvement in the gaming club and thought it was one of the most interesting things she had seen on a resume. Then, the only MD out of my multiple interviewers was an alumnus of my school AND appreciated how my life story was unique from those of the other candidates. It all happened so fast and I received the offer a few days later. After some deliberation I took it and the rest is history.

 

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