How not to conduct a recruitment interview
Posted by Ian Holsman
It’s careers week at MBS, and a handful of companies have come to present themselves to students.
I mainly chose to attend the financial related ones, and will give you a summary of the types of jobs on offer and how they got pitched.
High Value-Add consulting—Looking for the top 1% of graduates, work 80-90 hours a week and travel to exotic places you would have never have thought about going to yourself.
Investment Banking—Looking for the top 1% of graduates, work 80-90 hours a week but minimal travel.
Corporate Finance/Large Bank —Looking for the top 1% of graduates, work a normal week (and emphasized work/life balance). one bank mentioned how good their people policy and work / life balance was at least a dozen times in their presentation.
all of the firms had 1-2 positions available each. I think there is about 120 people graduating which means 12 people are in VERY high demand.. I pity the others like me ;-)
but the best recruitment interview by far was of a large well-known bank in town. Their HR person spent all the time saying how hopeless they were, and how they were going through hard times culturally and how bad it would be to work there… a very strange way to attract people.
What surprised me was that there was no mining companies presenting.. maybe the mining boom is over.