What Blackstone Seeks In An MBA Hire

Manager with his junior members

Manager with his junior members

If an MBA was weighing an offer from Blackstone and another firm, what would give you the edge?

It is similar to what we’d said earlier: having the opportunity to do something in the business that didn’t exist a number of years ago because we’re always innovating and there’s always opportunity.

At a time when other financial institutions are cutting back, since 2007 to the present day, we’ve grown assets at a compound average globally of 26 percent. First, [that’s because of] the opportunity set. Second, it’s because we are so tiny. Regarding lean teams, a first year MBA will spend a considerable amount of time directly dealing with the number one and the number two here – Tony James and Steve Schwarzman –sitting in investment committee meetings. I mean, how often, right from the get-go, do you get to be on a first name basis with the CEO?”

The firm, from the top-down, is so focused on people – recruiting, helping, and retaining – that we’ve gotten some terrific accolades. We’ve been consistently ranked as one of the best places to work. [For example], we’re ranked number one by Pensions & Investments among the best places to work for alternative managers. And we’ve maintained the number ranking in the Vault Banking 50 survey for 2015. And that stems from having a strong culture, where people have opportunity and get great experience.

I was talking to Steve [Schwarzman] about his views the other day and he said, ‘We want really smart people who are leaders or innovators – but they have to be nice. We’re not going to tolerate anything less.’ [For example], every employee, no matter what level they start in the firm, take this course called Respect at Work in their first few months. This is essentially ‘Let me remind me that you’ve got to treat other people well here.’ [That applies to] everyone from the messenger who brings your documents from the publishing center to you – you look up and say thank you – to how you deal with the people you’re supervising to how you deal with support staff, etc. That is rigidly enforced here. It is very easy in a firm of 2,300 people for everyone to know when someone is not behaving that way. You can run, but you can’t hide.

Could you give us an overview of your MBA recruiting and interview process? What are the steps that students should expect? How can they make a good impression and stay on your radar?

Blackstone associates collaborating

Blackstone associates collaborating

We maintain relationships and an on-campus presence at the top universities across the globe. As I mentioned earlier, we have other sources of MBA talent, such as referrals and an experienced hire program. We have a good pipeline.

What incoming MBA candidates can expect from an interview process is typically they have an initial interview with someone from the business. Qualified candidates would then go through some additional interview rounds in our offices. Ultimately, we would make an offer for either a summer or a full time associate position.

What we value in an interview is a combination of their abilities and smarts. We look through their work experience and ask some technical and behavioral questions and there are some case studies involved as well. Ultimately, we want to get a sense of the candidate, their past experiences and how they think. Do they think critically? Do they understand the business overall? Do they have a good working knowledge of firm overall? Can they articulate their experience? We want people to represent that in a genuine way.

What types of onboarding, training and ongoing support do you provide to incoming MBAs?

The new associates will go through a formal orientation program critical to their orientation to the firm. We also have a global talent management function that helps people at all levels of the firm with development, training, and career coaching. Throughout someone’s tenure at the firm, we will host additional leadership or technical training and customize to meet individual needs.

Blackstone's Park Avenue headquarters in New York City

Blackstone’s Park Avenue headquarters in New York City

If you go back to what Steve Schwarzman told the Harvard Business School a few weeks, he says ‘finance is an apprenticeship program.’ He says it’s not something you can learn in two years and then go. It’s a long period of learning from people who’ve done it before. The advantage [of Blackstone] is we have the largest real estate investment business in the world (currently investing about $14 billion dollars – and the next one below us is about $4 billion); we’re the largest hedge fund allocation businesses; Together with Apollo, we’re probably the largest private equity business in the world; we’re one of the largest firms in the world in terms of credit (Have about $73 billion dollars under management). Each one of those is under 200 professionals. If you go back to our deal teams being lean, when you’re on a private equity or real estate deal, you’ll have 3-5 people there, including a partner who has been there for over 20 years and you’re three months out of the business school, that’s where a lot of the learning takes place. [MBAs] are not in a backroom crunching numbers and then handing a piece of paper to someone that you only see once only every two months. They’re integrated right within that team and meeting up with the investment committee with Steve and Tony.

So for an MBA – no matter what group they join when they arrive at the firm – they’re going to be in a world leading business.

When it comes to Blackstone, what are some of the biggest misconceptions that students may have about your organization (and your industry)?

People expect us just to be a private equity firm when we’re not. We are the largest alternative asset manager, with $290 billion dollars in assets under management, a very balanced mix of businesses including Private Equity, Real Estate, Hedge Fund Solutions, and Credit with 24 offices around globe and 2,300 employees.

Another misconception that some people have is that it is a tough place to work and only hire [a certain] type of person. And that is so far from the truth. You’ve heard how Steve wants hires to be really smart, really innovative leaders but they have to be nice. I think our culture – accountability, excellence, integrity, teamwork, and entrepreneurship – underlies everything we do. And we’re such a diversified business that we’d be remiss if we hire the same type of person.

[There’s also] the myth that we are only looking for people who are technically adept in finance. But that’s only the beginning. For example, we are the largest owner of office buildings. You can get someone who is a real good real estate analyst, who knows about square footage and location [and] can analyze building rentals and figure out cap rates. But the type of particular intelligence that has a view on India and its geography and who is able to figure out where [India] fits in relation to China and United States and where its growth is going to come and make good investment – that’s not just someone who can pass the CFA test. It’s a mixture of intelligence, intelligences, analytics, imagination, and perspective.

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