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The Pillars of an Award-Winning Program
BlackRock was selected as a 2023 Campus Forward Award Winner for their unwavering commitment to seeking out and hiring early career talent, their emphasis on diversity & inclusion, and investments in nurturing and retaining the next generation of talent. Please see below for the highlights of their approach to early career recruitment.
Demonstrated Investment in Early Career Hiring
BlackRock genuinely believes early career talent will become the future leaders of the firm. For example, Rob Goldstein joined BlackRock nearly 30 years ago through its Full-Time Analyst Program and now serves as the company's Chief Operating Officer. BlackRock embraces the diversity of thought that comes from early career talent. BlackRock purposefully creates an environment of inclusion and belonging to draw out unique perspectives and creates runway for even early career talent to push the boundaries of their thinking and add value to the firm through hands-on experience.
Innovative and Multi-Faceted Approach to University Recruitment
BlackRock Campus Recruiting has a campus-inclusive recruiting philosophy. Rather than being evaluated by their university affiliation, GPA or major, BlackRock assesses students based on their skill sets and interests. Before interviews take place, interviewers and managers participating in the campus recruiting process are invited to complete Hemisphere, an interactive unconscious bias training. BlackRock believes all employees are responsible for creating an environment where all colleagues — including and especially early career talent — can be themselves at work and be seen and heard. BlackRock also sets candidates up for success by hosting various events to prepare candidates for the recruiting process. Through virtual events, recruiters meet and speak with candidates and provide insight into how to align their experiences and their interests with the roles students are looking to pursue at BlackRock.
Overarching Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
The principles of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are woven into every aspect of the recruitment process. BlackRock offers two accelerated tracks within its Summer Internship Program for underrepresented students: the BlackRock Founders Scholarship and Fast-Track to Fintech accelerators. The BlackRock Founders Scholarship is for diverse students —- those who self-identify as Black, African American, Latino, Hispanic, Native American, LGBTQ+ and/or having disabilities — who demonstrate leadership and exemplify the BlackRock Principles. The Fast-Track to Fintech accelerator is for those who self-identify as female and are interested in data analytics, risk management, and/or technology. The firm believes that inclusion and diversity are key to success. By fully leveraging diverse experiences, backgrounds, and insights, the firm can inspire innovation, challenge the status quo, and create better outcomes for people and clients.
Impactful Internship Program
During the nine-week Summer Internship Program, BlackRock goes the extra mile to show interns that it is invested in them. BlackRock provides interns with a challenging and meaningful experience, allowing interns to experience real work and have a real life at the firm. In addition to on-the-job learning, interns have the opportunity to connect senior leaders through regularly scheduled senior leadership speaking engagements. Events are also organized to foster camaraderie in the cohort, and events vary from networking to social and philanthropic engagements. Interns are also partnered with a peer who serves as a mentor, sharing their experiences and guiding them through their internship. Lastly, each intern has a bespoke learning and development plan aimed at addressing individual, team-specific and BlackRock-wide training needs.
Growth and Development of the Next Generation of Talent
Toward the end of the Summer Internship Program, managers identify strong-performing interns to return to BlackRock for a full-time role. The Full-Time Analyst Program builds upon the experience of the Summer Internship Program. Newly joining Analysts come together in New York City for orientation to launch the start of their BlackRock careers. Over two weeks, they have exposure to senior leaders who share their experiences, what they’ve learned, and how they’ve grown at the firm. Leaders also educate Analysts on BlackRock’s history, Aladdin, strategy, and being a student of the markets. Interns learn more about their teams and roles, and receive resources to help them be successful during their two-year journey. BlackRock believes this up-front investment in onboarding creates a solid foundation for success for its new Analysts.