“Perseverance, not intelligence or raw skill, is the strongest predictor of long-term achievement.”
— Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance (2016)
“People who believe they can grow their abilities consistently outperform those who believe their traits are fixed.”
— Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006)
We didn't just believe it. We measured it.
The traits that predict performance aren't a theory here — they're what we measure, every year.
With top researchers at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, we measure our students' character every year — against a control group and rejected applicants, to rule out self-selection bias.
What every SOF hire brings with them
Character Vetted
Multi-round application process screens for integrity, humility, and compassion before any technical assessment.
Industry-trained
Hundreds of hours of leadership development and career readiness training, so they hit the desk as one of the best.
Network-anchored
The mentorship continuum keeps members anchored long after onboarding — which is exactly when most attrition happens.
Firms engage the pipeline at every level
From multi-year institutional commitments to recruiting and speaker placements to on-the-ground event and chapter support.
Add SOF to your application
Let candidates self-identify during your hiring process. Find the needles in the haystack: a filter for vetted, high-character, high-performing talent inside your existing applicant pool.
Senior leaders speak
Your senior leaders take the stage at chapter meetings, regional symposiums, or podcasts. Brand placement, content, and a story the next generation will remember.
Recruiting team in front of students
Get your recruiting team directly in front of SOF members — intimate on-campus events to nationwide virtual sessions, depending on your hiring needs.
Foundations support our students with capital and volunteer power.
Beyond recruiting, the corporate foundations we work with build dedicated programs alongside us. Three examples of what that's looked like.
First-gen content series
Custom content series built for SOF's first-generation, low-income students — a dedicated track inside the broader curriculum.
Volunteer corps at regionals
Goldman Sachs sends 10 to 15 volunteers from the firm to one of our chapters each year to conduct resume reviews, mock interview sessions, and personal branding workshops.
Your foundation here
We co-design dedicated programs with foundation partners. If your foundation has a thesis — equity of access, leadership development, ethics in finance — we'll build alongside it.
Talk to the partnerships team.
We respond to every institutional inquiry within two business days. If you're under a recruiting deadline, flag it — we'll move accordingly.