Corporate Capital

Corporate Capital MA Program

Adelaide T. Auble, Manager

"I define a candidate's skills in terms of core competencies; those attributes essential to the long term success of an individual in any professional career. I differentiate these competencies between hard or tangible skills and soft, or intangible skills."

"A strong financial acumen is the most important hard skill or competency a candidate must possess. An individual must demonstrate a baseline aptitude within their analytical skill set to be successful within most of the businesses I work."

"The most important soft skill or competency is more difficult to define. It incorporates a candidate's overall attitude, enthusiasm and his/her ability to articulate their strengths in terms of the position for which they are interested. Candidates most successful in this area are those that have taken time to research the position and our company, Key Bank. They provide reasons and examples of how they can add value to Key in terms of the strengths they bring to the table."

"The most effective way a candidate can demonstrate desired skills/competencies is through his/her overall presentation. Candidates need to have some knowledge of Key and be sincerely enthusiastic about the opportunity we are discussing. Most important is the candidate's ability to articulate what they can contribute to Key that other candidates may not. Effective candidates will highlight their strengths as they discuss various aspects of Key Bank and how they see themselves contributing."

"During most interviews, I will also ask a candidate to elaborate on specific skills with examples from either their coursework or previous work experience. This is particularly true in demonstrating the hard competencies. Group projects or experiences are particularly useful in this way. A candidate can highlight specific skills (analytical, presentation, organization) as well as discuss team work, leadership and project management examples through their experiences in working in different team environments."

"GPA is important within the context of the candidate's overall story. A GPA in a vacuum is meaningless. What becomes important is the explanation behind a candidate's GPA. An extremely high GPA may be terrific, but it's more important to have diverse experiences and many different skills."

"Candidates must demonstrate a desire and commitment to perform well and to be successful within their academic careers. We often look for minimum GPA's within the context of the candidate's overall experience."

"To best prepare themselves for a fulfilling career within Key Bank, or any other large organization, students need to develop a high level of self confidence and positive attitude about themselves during their college experiences. My advice to students is to take advantage of your environment; meet all different types of people; get to know your professors and TA's (visit them at office hours). Set your goal beyond just getting a good grade, try to learn something more than what is on the test. Challenge yourself academically, socially, professionally and intellectually."

"My other piece of advice to college students is to take the job search process seriously. You don't need to know exactly what you want to be when you grow up (most of us still don't know that), but you should talk with as many different people as you can. Take advantage of the services your placement office has to offer, but don't limit yourself to those resources. Adopt an attitude of making things happen and creating opportunities for yourself and keep an open mind."

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