Reply to Why no business major at (most of) the Ivies

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a PM at a long/short equity hedge fund. Historically, we hired junior analysts who had completed two years in investment banking, but about eight years ago we began recruiting undergraduates still in college. The candidates we target are exceptional—bright, driven, and highly self-directed. We look broadly across institutions for talent and are never entranced by brand. Substance matters, and we try to find it.

That said, what continues to impress me about the HYP candidates is their ability to teach themselves complex material, and do so astonishingly quickly. For example, to my knowledge,  Harvard doesn’t formally offer an undergraduate accounting course; however,  the students we interview often show a sophisticated understanding of financial statements. That ability to learn translates. As part of the evaluation process, we give these kids projects with sometimes impossible timelines (because that is the reality we face everyday). If and when we hire full-time, when we drop these guys into new sectors, they get up to speed very rapidly.

I’ve also found that the HYP candidates that we ultimately really focus on (there is of course now a selection bias to consider) tend to excel at handling ambiguous, unstructured problems. They’re able to take loosely defined situations and frame them in ways that make rigorous analysis, and ultimately decision-making, possible. That skill is central to what we do as investors, and thus very valuable when we see it.

Finally, my observation has been that even at a young age, they tend to interact well with management teams. They’re confident, curious, and able to build rapport both in formal meetings and especially casual settings. That social ease often leads to better insights. What management says between the lines can be just as informative as what’s said outright.

I’m not sure whether these capabilities are something their schools actively teach, or if it simply reflects the kind of people who are drawn to these institutions. Either way, there seems to be a higher than average proportion of kids with an unusually strong ability to think independently, structure complexity, and ultimately help us drive returns.

I have a kid of my own applying this fall, and this is where I hope he ends up.
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Finance departments as well as graduate business schools often teach Financial Statements Analysis classes.  They are not Accounting classes per se.

Regarding whether social polish "reflects the kind of people who are drawn to these institutions"...I'd say this is part of the intake screening of the admissions process.  The consultancies famously screen for this kind of thing, privileging particular personality types even over intellect.  This is also why men who are athletes and ex-military are popular candidates.  There is both the appearance of manly leadership qualities along with the ability to fit into a larger hierarchical organization and play a defined part.[/quote]

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