Marisa Drew, the new head at Credit Suisse, on who she likes to hire

1 May 2013

2 minute read

Marisa Drew, the new head at Credit Suisse, on who she likes to hire

Credit Suisse has appointed Marisa Drew - one of its most senior female investment bankers in Europe as co-head of its European investment banking business. Drew has been at Credit Suisse for a decade and becomes co-head with Ewen Stevenson, another Credit Suisse veteran who joined the bank in 1989.

If you want to get a job working for Credit Suisse in Canary Wharf, what will it take to make Marisa hire you? Fortunately, Marisa answered that precise question in an interview she completed with us in July 2011. Based upon that interview, here's how to catch Marisa's eye:

1. Go to Wharton

Marisa went to Wharton and studied an MBA. Immutable laws of human nature suggest that if you go to Wharton and study an MBA too, she will immediately warm to you.

2. Work hard and passionately

"In my honest opinion, nothing trumps hard work, passion and commitment," said Marisa. "The people who are successful are usually those who are really dedicated and who have that passion."

Marisa is very big on passion. If you want to impress her, she said you will, "need to think of ways in which you can use your past experience to demonstrate leadership and passion.

"I’d always take a chance on someone with a non-traditional background who can demonstrate those characteristics," Marisa added. "You can teach people about the business, but you can’t make someone into the kind of person who’s determined to be successful and to make things happen."

3. Demonstrate enthusiasm, with gravitas

Impressing Marissa isn't about working so hard that you become fraught and frazzled. It's about working hard and keeping your cool. She told us she wanted to hire candidates who, "demonstrate a track record of success and a history of making a difference with gravitas and enthusiasm."