Key Learnings from the SG Cowen Case

Raghav Gupta
PC20200052
This case gave us an opportunity to understand the hiring process at SG Cowen, and made
us evaluate the effectiveness, strengths and weaknesses of their recruiting and job search
process. It also made us realise that recruitment is the foundation on which the HR builds a
stable and strong company.
My 3 significant learnings from the case are broadly under these categories-
1. Selection Strategy
2. Communication
3. Interview

1. Selection Strategy
One must first map down the relevant skills and capabilities that are required for the
person to excel at his job. These should be discussed with the management and
supervisors prior to selection of strategy. This would also help the person applying
for the job to understand and gauge himself beforehand. This would also help
filtering out or shortlist more relevant candidates
Another particularly important aspect of strategizing is to decide who will select the
candidates. Through this case we understood the importance of multi-level selection
strategy which had accountability attached to the initial authority of selection. This
made them more responsible for there decisions and less biased.

2. Communication
There are 2 channels of communication that must be taken care of in a recruitment
process. The first is the internal communication between the selection team
members and the initial shortlisting team and the final selection team. This can be
achieved via evaluation forms or inter team meetings as well.
The second channel is one that most of us do not pay heed to but is as critical as the
first. It is between the recruiter and the candidate applying for the job. The common
mistake that happens here is that only recruiter does the communication but for
better results a method should be created for the applicants to also communicate
their concerns and doubts to the recruiters. In SG Cowen’s case this was being taken
care of with on campus round where the team captains were encouraged to listen to
the student’s queries. This led to a bond being created with the firms values and
culture.

3. Interview
Another important learning from this case was the importance of affects of the way
you conduct an interview. As seen in this case the interviews were multi layered with
initial shortlisting being done by the team captains and then and then at the super
Saturday dinner. This helped in all the stakeholders to interact with the possible
recruits and gauge them in different parameters.
It was the right choice for company like SG Cowen which had cultural fit as one of
the most important parameters for selection.
In the class we also learnt other methods of interviews such as structured,
unstructured, panel or stress interviews. It gave us an opportunity to discuss various
merits of demerits of each process.