Barclays just hired this professional ballerina as an analyst in IBD

If you want to join an investment bank's analyst class these days, it's often no longer enough to have extraordinarily good academic achievements and to have interned repetitively. You also need to have shown entrepreneurial savvy whilst at university: although banks aren't especially entrepreneurial, they like to hire people who've shown entrepreneurial initiative in the past.

This is likely to be one reason why Barclays recently recruited Olga Fuhrmann, a former professional ballerina and chemical engineering graduate from Edinburgh University. Whilst studying in Scotland, Fuhrmann put her 12 years as a dancer to use by founding a fitness programme based around stretching techniques learned in ballet. 

StretchingFit's Instagram page depicts Fuhrmann and her clientele in positions that will make most desk-bound banking employees wince. Stretching and flexibility are conducive to relaxation, says Fuhrmann, and the degree of suppleness you achieve is directly related to the effort you put in.

StretchingFit is seemingly still in operation, although it's not clear whether Fuhrmann will have the opportunity to continue running the company whilst working in Barclays' natural resources M&A team. In the meantime, any new colleagues who wish to follow the regimen might want to heed the photo below, taken from the company's blog page! 

Contact: SButcher@eFinancialCareers.com