I interviewed over 100 people at Goldman Sachs, and this was the one trait I looked for in every job candidate
Becca BrownBecca Brown.Before cofounding Solemates, a brand of women's shoe care products, in 2009, Becca Brown worked at Goldman Sachs for almost six years.
Brown, who has a bachelor's from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia, spent a lot of time interviewing job candidates at Goldman, where she held various roles, including analyst, wealth adviser, and chief of staff. She was also part of the investment bank's Harvard recruiting team, she says.
"I interviewed anywhere from 20 to 30 job candidates a year, so in total, I interviewed over 100 people at Goldman Sachs," she tells Business Insider. "And this was the one trait I looked for in every candidate: Strong communication skills."
She says the ability to communicate clearly is critical for any job, and is particularly important at Goldman Sachs.
"One of the tenets of the culture at Goldman is resourcefulness, and communicating that resourcefulness to others," she says. "Pretty much everyone I worked with or dealt with while I worked there carried the same level of professionalism and resourcefulness."
Even when someone did not know the answer to a question, Brown says the consistent response was, "I will find out" - and that person always did.
"That theme of resourcefulness is so important to any organization and fosters a team atmosphere in which everyone is working hard for the benefit of the organization. Good communication is critical to the success of the individual and to the organization," she concludes.