What Bank Of America Seeks In MBA Hires

Global Banking and Markets employees in New York City

What do you look for in a resume and background that many candidates might not consider?

When we look at a resume, we’re looking for candidates who have demonstrated growth and development, and have shown leadership. We’re looking for people who’ve demonstrated a track record of excellence and progression in whatever work experience they’ve had.

What types of clubs or extracurriculars do you see as particularly valuable [for MBAs]?

At the MBA level, the expectation is that candidates are much more focused and targeted. Therefore, it is valuable for them to participate in activities that support their career aspirations such as investment banking or sales and trading clubs. On campus, we find that many students sign up for those clubs based on where they see themselves developing their careers, whether or not they’re on the same career path they had before business school or if they are switching careers.

It’s also valuable to participate in opportunities where we MBAs can be involved in the community. Many times, MBA programs require students to get involved in giving back to the community in some form or fashion.

What kinds of skills does Bank of America anticipate needing in the coming years that you may not possess enough of now (languages, technical skills, etc.)?

When we think about where the business world and finance is going, it’s really around being global. We want people who are comfortable thinking broadly and globally and having global experience… [They can’t] just be comfortable thinking within the borders of wherever they’re located. In addition, technology continues to evolve in our business and has become very important as we service our clients. We want people who are very comfortable dealing with technology and the role it plays in our industry, people who have quantitative skills. This doesn’t take away from the fact that we’re a relationship-driven business, where interpersonal skills and understanding how to build relationships are still at the core of the skill set that we’re looking for.

What advice would you give to students who have their hearts set on working for you? How can they enhance their job prospects?

We are a relationship-driven business. The more contact you have with professionals from the bank the better. That contact can be through face-to-face meetings or by leveraging professional networking sites and email. If we’re out on campus, candidates should make sure they are building relationships [with us]. Candidates should be putting themselves in situations where they will have more than one touch point with the bank and whenever there is an opportunity to meet someone from the bank they should take advantage of it.

Bank of America in Times Square

Recruiting can be a two-way street. What has Bank of America done to make itself more appealing to MBA candidates? (Big developments coming up)

We have been very, very focused on our junior banker initiative, where we are really looking at work-life balance and understanding what our people need to do their jobs. Our goal is to help our junior bankers work smartly and efficiently. We look to make sure they have the right technology and that we are focusing on streamlining the way work gets done. We are actively managing the hours our junior banker’s work and they are expected to have at least four weekend days off per month.

We are also working to ensure junior bankers get a variety of experience. We have resource officers in place who are very involved in staffing. They are thinking about the variety of experience that juniors are getting so they are learning as they’re being staffed on various deals.

We also provide opportunities to interact with senior leaders. They have mentors and buddies to help with their acclimation into the organization.