Investment banks are no strangers to psychometric testing – such things have long been used to sift through the hundreds of thousands of people who apply out of university, but Reuters reports that some banks are taking the psychological assessment of candidates to a whole new level.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and UBS are all said to be exploring the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a means of discerning psychological characteristics that might not become apparent from CVs or interviews alone. The banks are reportedly looking at a ‘video interviewing platform’ called HireVue which uses artificial intelligence to help screen candidates on which things as teamwork, curiosity and grit. The desired characteristics will be elicited by analyzing not just what candidates say, but how they say it – how quickly they speak, and their body language in the process.
Separately, Jonathan Mathew, the former Barclays desk assistant who was routinely humiliated by his boss, would like to clarify that he is not very clever. Mathews is in court for the alleged manipulation of LIBOR. In summing up his defence, Bloomberg reports that Mathew’s lawyer told the jury that his client has “only average intelligence” and is “no mathematical genius”. Mathews joined Barclays aged 19 without attending university. His father was instrumental in securing him a position at the bank in London.
Meanwhile:
Citi plans to create 75 special EMEA “super bankers” in its coverage team. It will do this using, ‘special executive coaching and mentoring programmes’ and ‘product-specific training.’ (Financial News)
Bank of America emailed its UK employees urging them to vote in the UK referendum. (Reuters)
Credit Suisse hired Jerome Renard, a former head of equity capital markets at Nomura, as a managing director. (Reuters)
Brexit will bring bad news for deferred bonuses at British banks. (Bloomberg)
George Soros has been unable to resist placing some big and bearish trades. (WSJ)
Oh for a single name CDS. (Financial Times)
Tall people are more productive. (Bloomberg)
London deploys hologram to instruct people where to stand on escalator. Hologram is ignored. (CityLab)
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