Names: Spencer Hong & M. Charles Festa

Company: Palm Tree LLC

Positions: Vice President & Talent Acquisition

Tell us about Palm Tree LLC.

Palm Tree is the modern M&A advisory firm, a hybrid of financial consultancy and investment banking. The firm was born out of private equity and consults on financial, operational, and investment solutions.

What excites you about your company/industry?

Palm Tree has grown significantly since I joined the firm. It has been exciting to see the firm expand our presence within the private equity industry and continue to build our team. We have opened new office locations, stood up our investment bank, and have added to our leadership team. Work at Palm Tree is consistently challenging, with both the type of work you perform as well as the teams you get to work with. It requires our team to be critical-thinkers and problem-solvers who also can execute. Anyone with a background in finance/accounting who is driven and ambitious would be excited about the work at Palm Tree.

Advice to students on how to adjust their job search in the time of COVID-19? 

Even in this candidate driven market, competition remains tight. Be proactive, do your research, and prepare ahead of time for interviews. Turn your camera on and dress to impress. During the pandemic, it has been difficult to maintain that personal connection that is typically established in-person throughout an interview. Do your best to make your resume stand out! We are interested to learn more about what drives candidates and what steps they are taking to demonstrate that.

How has your recruitment model adjusted to this unprecedented time?

Palm Tree has moved away from the in-person “Super Day” interview model and has adopted a multi-round interview process utilizing video conferencing. Our case studies have largely stayed the same, but they have become an even more important step for evaluating candidates’ skill set.