Cut Out The Middle Man!!
We have all experienced this first hand:
You meet a steady stream of cookie cutter CVs with all the right brands and the same education.
They sell themselves well in interview and even ace the modelling tests….somehow.
However, once through the door influencing skills are exposed, your ultra confident candidate struggles to build relationships internally and externally, and the great modelling or design skills don’t materialize.
Traditionally smaller firms have tapped their junior candidate pool from the fountain of large banking team, pharma or consultancy.
The large firms you grew up in have created a machine that is perfect for their needs and resources, you can’t blame them.
But these needs are now very different for a boutique business or scale up.
Having seen this first hand with smaller asset managers, the small and medium businesses are missing a trick!
Relying on the apex employers to train the right talent for you, is let’s be honest, a little lazy and, more importantly the skill sets have diverged over time.
Those big firms have the bandwidth to develop analysts over time and a huge, deep structure to keep promoting every 2 years.
This is a luxury most don’t have.
A Different Approach
Hire the person not the CV. Don’t be blinded by brands.
The interviews you had in your 20’s don’t engage the candidate in 2024.
Having a candidate meet 8 people who ask the same questions will not assess them properly and lead to a failed process as there is no key decision maker.
Screen for emotional intelligence. This will help with “culture fit.”
Use case studies to test actual skills such as modelling or design but also how they influence whether it’s a good deal or not.
It doesn’t cost you much time or funding given the benefits on offer.
Even the smallest team can reap the rewards of the right junior hire:
Develop and nurture a sustainable talent pipeline through relationships with schools and colleges.
Empower you junior managers to manage and develop people. Creating a new cohort of leaders.
Increase engagement and retention.
Gain bandwidth to deliver more deal due diligence or product development.
Lower payroll overheads.
Grow your employer brand and keep you culture current.
Develop diversity throughout your team.
Give depth to your organisation meaning not everyone is a Director or Principal!!
Develop succession across the organisation.
With the benefits above small firms can revolutionize their teams and leave larger competitors in the war for talent behind.
