What Barclays Seeks In MBA Hires

What are your expectations for entry level MBAs? What are your most successful new hires doing to hit the ground running and quickly add value?

The good news is that most of our entry-level MBAs have already spent a ten-week internship with us. We do hire the vast majority of our full-time class out of the intern program. Once they spend that ten weeks here, they have a lot of confidence to come in full-time and hit the ground running.

With that said, we look for people who are proactive and able to take advantage of the firm’s resources. The most successful associates have shown the ability to both manage the analysts and also learn from them. I think that’s a really important thing in your first year or two as an associate.

Project management is another piece; being able to drive a process or project forward, anticipate next steps and really deliver a strong product in the end. Those are a few of the things that set new associates apart.

What are your favorite business schools doing differently (or better) to better prepare students?

We really don’t have favorite schools. We find that we get the best class if we have a diverse class – and I don’t just mean diversity as you traditionally hear it, but diversity of thought. We like to cast a wide net and consider students from a variety of schools, and feel that this allows us to bring in the strongest class possible.

We see slightly different preparation and coursework at different schools. Most students come in with a strong understanding of corporate finance and accounting, which serves them well in a banking interview. Generally, MBAs are quite well-prepared, and if they’ve been spending time with us, they know what to expect in the interview.

Give me an example of a student who really impressed you in the process. (i.e. What is the most creative or memorable thing someone has done to stand out and impress you?)

There is not one specific story I’d share, but what I would say is that we really value students’ life experiences. Most MBAs have a career of anywhere from two to ten years before coming to us. Year after year, we’re blown away by the experience that people have had before starting their MBA. Often times, we say to ourselves, ‘This person has achieved so much already. They’re going to be fantastic and be able to make an impact here.’ For example, we have a great program for recruiting military veterans. Many times, we see a resume that has such incredible leadership and we know that person is going to come in here and be effective very quickly.

So it’s less that you need to do something creative or above and beyond in the recruiting process, but more that you’re making sure that you’re really highlighting the experience that you have and showcasing whatever makes you unique. It’s not until we see the resume that we really see all the incredible accomplishments, so look at what you’ve done in the career you had prior to business school and make sure you’re highlighting it.

What excites you personally about working for Barclays?

I think the honest answer is always going to be the people. Because you probably hear that a lot, the real differentiator here is the opportunity to create positive change. I have found it in my job and I have seen it with all of the graduates that I’ve hired over the years. If you have a really great idea, you can actually find a way to make it happen. You’re not going to hear, “Just do it the way you did it last time.” You’re going to find that this is a place where people value creative thinking. They encourage new and different ideas. I’ve really found this over the years and that’s really what keeps my job interesting and what’s kept me here for so long.

What question(s) didn’t I ask that you’d love to answer?

What makes our  program for associates unique? The majority of the associate hiring we do is for investment banking. One thing that’s very unique to Barclays is our banking rotational program. As opposed to coming in directly and starting your full-time role, you come in and do three rotations through any part of our banking business, which includes M&A, Advisory, all of our Coverage groups, and all of our Global Finance and Risk Solutions groups (which you might also refer to as product groups or capital markets). Each rotation is five weeks. You might do a rotation in equity capital markets, followed by rotations in technology banking and power banking.

You’d see two different sectors – the tech sector and the power sector – and have the opportunity to focus on a product. This allows you to see different parts of the firm and helps you build a network early on in your career. So wherever you land, you’re going to have relationships from all three of those rotations that you can use professionally to your advantage. Additionally, you’re getting exposure to senior business leaders across more than just one part of the firm and lastly, you can make a more informed decision about your permanent placement. Hopefully, the rotations give you peace of mind and confidence in the choice you’ll ultimately make.

The nice thing about this program is that it works well both for those who know exactly what they want after graduating from business school and those who are looking to explore more options. If you know what you want to do to do, you can feel confident you’ll land there after you get the opportunity to see other parts of the firm.

If you’re open to a few groups or you are a career changer who doesn’t know exactly what you want to do, these three rotations will give you that opportunity to experience three different things.  We’ve certainly seen people come in wanting one group, and finish the rotations with a totally different point of view.

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