The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the investment bank will end its on-campus interview program for summer analyst positions at elite schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford. All applicants will now be interviewed by video, with a computer program generating the questions.
The move is likely to send shockwaves through the Ivy League, which still sends scores of students to Wall Street each year, even as Silicon Valley has lured Ivy League graduates to the West Coast. According to The Harvard Crimson, 18 percent of students who graduated from Harvard in May are starting jobs in the financial sector this summer.
That percentage has remained high over the years, in part, because Wall Street banks have recruitment programs on campus. Some interviewers are school alumni, meaning a Harvard junior could be sitting down with someone who was in the same dormitory, fraternity, or final club. The changes, Goldman Sachs told the Journal, are an attempt to “level the playing field.”
They also reflect a push to find more committed employees. Goldman, in particular, has struggled to prevent young analysts from decamping to the boutique hedge funds in New York once they complete their first two years. In November, the bank announced sweeping changes to reduce the drudgery and speed the path to promotions for its junior bankers.
Also, just kidding, Dartmouth.