Becoming Experts at Hiring Experts
Star Magnolia Capital’s (SMC) expertise lies in finding experts, since we invest primarily with external fund managers.
However, finding experts is one matter - hiring experts is a whole other ball game altogether. Over the past few months, I have realised that it is not work that makes me lose sleep, but people. I am writing this in the context of my position as Business Manager of the non-profit education entity, Next Gen Investors Endowment (Next Gen), that SMC supports.
I must say that SMC is doing a much better job at hiring experts than I am, and I wish to detail some reflections on the process.
Attract
Meet the Members of the House of Mulans - this article itself presents a unique perspective to the team at SMC. Why are we referred to as ‘Mulans’? Why are we all portrayed as manga characters instead of the usual profile picture?
Even as a member of the House of Mulans, I am still attracted by the description and characterisation of the team. This recent job ad that SMC posted explains why we are referred to as ‘Mulans’:
HUA Mulan is a legendary folk heroin in China. Some people call her China’s Jeanne d’Arc. By disguising herself as a man, Mulan joined the military force to protect her family and home from the nomadic hordes. The legend of HUA Mulan survived thousands of years in the form of poetry, songs, plays, film and animation. It is not just a coincidence that Star Magnolia’s Chinese name is Xing-Hua-Mu-Lan (星华木兰). ‘Xing’ means a star; ‘Hua’ means a flower and ‘Mu-Lan’ means magnolia. HUA Mulan took a sword to keep her ailing father from conscription and to protect her home. She successfully fought for more than 12 years and chose to return home after rejecting a high rank in the government. She is also a symbol of challenging tradition and convention. These are the values we always aspire towards. At the same time, Star Magnolia Capital is built and supported by many ‘HUA Mulans’ and in search of other ‘HUA Mulans’.
SMC is currently still in search of a ‘HUA Mulan’ to join the team. As Business Manager of Next Gen, I am actively learning from SMC in terms of how to position Next Gen to attract the right candidates. After all, birds of feather flock together. Alignment in mission, culture and values is key.
Hunt
The sourcing process is extremely crucial in finding experts. Where do you get your leads? Who do you choose to invest time to learn more about?
Similarly, where do we find our experts? Beyond casting the net to the open web, SMC relies heavily on its network, trusted referrals and face time. And no, we are not just talking about the usual interview.
In 2023, SMC actually conducted a casual drinks session in Singapore for all potential candidates who was interested in joining the investment team. Around 15 potentials turned up and met the entire team who was in Singapore that week. It was really fun getting to know new people and making friends.
And, that drinks session was where we met our current team mate, Chan Yong. We did not decide to hire him because of that drinks session, but he left an unanimous positive impression on everyone after that night. It was certainly pleasant to meet a future team mate in such a manner.
Fast forward to 2024, although we did not have the privilege to gather in person in Singapore as a team, we conducted one Q&A Zoom session and one webinar (’Family Office, Explained’) where all potential candidates could register and attend. Once again, it was really nice to meet new faces and introduce ourselves.
Unfortunately, after an elaborate process, we have not landed on the right person for the year. Nevertheless, we will continue to ‘hunt’ through conventional and unconventional methods for our ‘HUA Mulan’.
I am also inspired to be creative in my sourcing for hires for Next Gen. If you have interesting tips on sourcing, please share it with us too! We would love to learn from you.
Process
Is there a correlation between the rigor and intensity of the hiring process and the quality of the final candidate selected? I would say, yes.
At SMC, the hiring process can take months (sometimes purely because of insane travel schedules). But our philosophy is for the potential hire to meet every single member of the team whether in person or over Zoom. This is on top of the case study presentation that the hire has to do to join the investment team.
We believe that every single member of the team should have a positive impression of the hire, as ultimately we are going to work as a team in one way or another. This means that the hire will have to go through a minimum of 5 rounds of interview or process before getting the final offer.
It is extremely time consuming on everyone’s part. But I daresay that the reward is worth it. After all, a wrong hire is far more costly than the initial hours put into the hiring process.
While SMC is currently at the sourcing phase once again for junior or senior analysts, we have high hopes that the process will prove the outcome and we will eventually find our next ‘HUA Mulan’.
And this rigorous process is something I hope to implement for Next Gen as well, albeit with the necessary tweaks to fit the context.
If you are keen to find out more about us and if you feel that you have the potential to be our next ‘HUA Mulan’, please do not hesitate to reach out to us as per this article.
