Recruiting EQ E100: Featuring Alexis Alvarez, founder of Career Rockstars

You can't just have that likability factor.

You have to have that really strong technical foundation.

And, you know, like that part, because you could probably get away in some industries or sectors with maybe not necessarily having, let's just call them like the hard, hard skills, like you can, or just having like a superficial understanding of them, you can maybe get away with some of those things.

But in this space, I have found that, you know, you have to not only be really strong technically and be able to check those technical boxes, but you also have to come to the table, you know, with something that adds, additional value that the firms can see, especially if you don't fit kind of that mold.

Yeah, that's interesting, right? So it's like if you don't fit the mold, you need to be bringing everything plus kind of thing in a way.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Absolutely.

And I mean, I like I talk about I was on another webinar yesterday with their interns for it's part of the it's called the SBIC investing program, young scholars.

And so the SBIC is the investment arm of the SBA.

Right.

And so there's a lot of credit firms that are part of this SBA SBA program.

So SBIC funds.

And so I always kind of give this webinar to the they are, you know, I think they're sophomores and juniors in college.

And so one of the questions, you know, that they asked me is, you know, I don't know what kinds of skills and things that they need.

And so my answer is always the same.

Like, of course, you're going to have to have a technical baseline, but then you're also going to have to, you could call it likability.

You could call it gravitas.

You could call it, you know, whatever it may be, but all of that kind of encompasses the fact that you're, you're likable.

And if you're likable, you're going to build relationships really well and easily.

And that is key.

I mean, that is one of the key factors across any industry, but I would say, especially within kind of the, the private equity space and just the overall what we what the buy side is right in case anyone buy side is is essentially you know private equity when you're buying companies basically right and so that becomes incredibly important because it seems like a really big space but at the end of the day all these guys know each other all these guys you know they sometimes you know they work on deals and if they have really great relationships They're saying, hey, this deal isn't for me, for my firm, but hey, let me quarterback it to you because I know these guys at another firm, right? So everyone kind of knows each other.

So that piece beyond the technicals becomes increasingly more important.

And I think now as we're heading to a very much so AI driven world, those qualities and the focus on relationships are going to be, it's like a back-to-basics approach, I feel.

You kind of see that in general, right? Whatever trend we're kind of heading to, we'll spend a few years there, and then there's going to be a tendency to kind of go back, right? And everything old becomes kind of new again.

And so I think the same thing for early talent as well is that those human qualities and the ability to really forge those relationships, talk to people, knowing how to talk to people, is going to become increasingly more important.