Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.
Prestigious firms like Citi and Goldman Sachs are notoriously difficult to break into.
Everyone knows you've got to be smart, competent, and ambitious - but what else will help you stand out among a sea of talented applicants... and what will catapult you to success once you're there?
To find out, we tapped the HR chiefs at top finance companies like Bank of America, BlackRock, and Morgan Stanley. These folks are the final gatekeepers when it comes to recruiting, hiring, and granting promotions.
Read on for their best advice on nailing the job interview, leading with humility, and what to do when you're stuck in a rut.
Advertisement
Dan DeFrancesco, Meghan Morris, and Bradley Saacks contributed reporting.
Dane Holmes, global head of human capital management at Goldman Sachs
The skills you need to work at Goldman Sachs
Curiosity and drive. We need people who are committed to growing and learning, and curiosity is critical to that. Effort can't overcome anything, but effort + talent = excellence. These characteristics maximize our impact for our clients, our communities, and our people.
Lead with humility. Humility is not synonymous with meekness, but rather rooted in confidence. Humble leaders make their people feel welcomed, appreciated, and empowered.
Demonstrating humility means both recognizing and openly expressing your weaknesses (in corporate speak we say "areas of development") and building a team that offsets your shortcomings. Teams want to be led by a real person — not a corporate cutout.
Jeff Brodsky, chief human resources officer at Morgan Stanley
The question you'll have to answer if you interview with him
Tell me about a time you took a contrarian viewpoint and convinced a large group to approach a problem in a different way.
The best question he was ever asked as a job candidate
Walk me through the most challenging conversation you had with a high-performing team member that you were directly managing. Knowing what you know now, how would you have handled it differently?
Paige Ross, global head of human resources at Blackstone
The mindset you need to work at Blackstone
We pride ourselves on maintaining our entrepreneurial culture and want people who share that mindset.
The best way to get noticed and promoted, besides working hard
We want people who are nice and willing to collaborate. We want our people to enjoy working together. It is important to find ways to network across the various businesses and collaborate with groups across the firm.
Lizzy Schoentube, head of campus recruiting at Bank of America
The one skill you absolutely must have to get hired at Bank of America
Judgment. There are many things that we can and do teach our hires about their job, a particular task, or the company. But sometimes a situation can arise where the new hire needs to know how to operate in the gray and make a decision on something.
Having the judgment to know when to escalate a situation or when to contact people to gather further information, make an assessment, and reach the right decision is key.
The most impressive question someone has asked her in a job interview
Once, at the end of an interview with a summer intern candidate, I asked, "Do you have any other questions?" The intern's response was, "No other questions about the bank, but is there anything else I can tell you to help you decide on my candidacy, and to know that I am fully interested in this opportunity?"
I was very impressed by that question — not only was the candidate ensuring I had all the information I needed, but significantly, it was a way of reiterating interest in an internship with us.
Jeffrey Smith, global head of human resources at BlackRock
The attitude you absolutely must have to get hired at BlackRock
We look for people who come to work every day thinking about what they can do to serve our clients. People who are passionate about learning, growing, and innovating. Strong collaborators driven and motivated by contributing to something greater than ourselves.
The first thing he tells employees who are frustrated at work
If you're feeling unfulfilled, you should have an open conversation with your manager focused on your interests and career aspirations. We have an internal mobility policy so our employees can pursue different opportunities at the firm, which keeps people engaged and shares the talent across different teams.
We recently launched two initiatives to support ongoing learning and mobility: the Transform Program helps employees build technical skills to transition to full-stack developer roles and the Growing More Great Investors initiative drives diversity, inclusion, and development across our investment teams.
Ariel Speicher, head of human capital for Point72, and Alyssa Friedman, head of business development for the Cubist business at Point72
The traits you need to get hired at Point72
SPEICHER: You have to be intellectually curious and strive for greatness. But you should also have a growth mindset and see the opportunity in failure. The markets are tough and the odds are challenging, so you have to have the courage and resilience to stick with it.
FRIEDMAN: Grit and persistence. Having great ideas is one thing, but implementation is another. The ability to stick with a project, look deeper than the competition, and not give up easily. This is important in research, but also in other domains. We want to hire people who will take on responsibility and initiative to solve problems.
A pro tip for employees who are feeling unfulfilled
FRIEDMAN: If you put in the effort, you can learn and challenge yourself in any role at any institution. Don't wait for it to come to you. It's important to speak up. I like to ask: What are your favorite projects? When do you feel the most energized? I tell my team all the time that I want to design a job that is too good to leave.
Sara Wechter, global head of human resources at Citi
The only type of people she hires
People who are successful at Citi have the ability to make things happen. We need doers.
The most important piece of advice she gives new managers
I have to remind new managers to ask for help along the way. No one expects you to be able to do it all, and somehow people can forget that when they start to manage people. We all succeed together.
The first question she asks employees who are feeling unmotivated
I ask them what they have done about it. Much of the time when people are stuck they don't take action to help themselves, but when you call them out they do! When someone takes the reins on their own professional development, it makes it easier for others around them to take action and respond to their needs as well.
