An ex-Goldman Sachs employee who interviewed over 100 people shares what the most impressive job candidates had in common
Sarah Jacobs
Brown, who has a bachelor's from Harvard University and an MBA from Columbia, spent a lot of time interviewing job candidates at Goldman, where she held various roles, including analyst, wealth adviser, and chief of staff. She was also part of the investment bank's Harvard recruiting team, she says.
"I interviewed anywhere from 20 to 30 job candidates a year, so in total, I interviewed over 100 people at Goldman Sachs," she tells Business Insider. "And this is what the most impressive job candidates had in common: They were confident, poised, articulate, and came to the interviews prepared and ready to 'sell' themselves for the role."
She adds:
"Obviously it's important for any candidate to do research on the job prior to the interview, but those who connected their previous experiences and accomplishments (in college, internships, or full-time jobs) to the job for which they were interviewing, really stood out the most.
"It's pretty basic stuff, but those candidates who were able to do all of that and express some of their personalities were the top-notch candidates. The real stand-outs were those who did all of the above but also had some personality, and were not just the personification of their résumés."
Brown says she still remembers one candidate who stood out more than anyone else she ever interviewed. "He ended up being the 'benchmark' in my mind, by encompassing all of the above. He was poised, confident, well-spoken, well-prepared, and sold himself in a natural, conversational way."
- US buys 81 Soviet-era combat aircraft from Russia's ally costing on average less than $20,000 each, report says
- 2 states where home prices are falling because there are too many houses and not enough buyers
- A couple accidentally shipped their cat in an Amazon return package. It arrived safely 6 days later, hundreds of miles away.
- Markets rebound in early trade amid global rally, buying in ICICI Bank and Reliance
- Women in Leadership
- Rupee declines 5 paise to 83.43 against US dollar in early trade
- Election Commission issues notification for sixth phase of Lok Sabha polls
- 6 Coffee recipes you should try this summer