Citigroup hiring chief speaks on what company looks for in candidates

India will have the second largest employee base, next only to the US, across Citigroup’s 95 markets after the group executes the sale of its Mexican consumer banking business.

So far this year, Citigroup has hired some 15,000 people around the globe and will continue to add as many to its headcount going forward, said Juan Manuel Cerda, managing director and global head of talent acquisition and people insights at the US-based financial giant.

India will have the second largest employee base, next only to the US, across Citigroup’s 95 markets after the group executes the sale of its Mexican consumer banking business, Cerda said in an interview with Moneycontrol.

Private lender Axis Bank will acquire Citibank's India consumer business for $1.6 billion in an all cash deal. The transaction comprises the sale of the consumer banking businesses of Citibank India, which includes credit cards, retail banking, wealth management and consumer loans, Citigroup said.​

ALSO READ | India is a strategic location for global talent search: Citigroup hiring chief

As of 2021, Citibank had around 5,500 employees in India, of whom around 3,500-4,000 are in the retail division. The bank also had around 20,000 people in back-end operations.

Citigroup is investing in reinforcing its technology, data analytics and engineering capability. Additionally, it is looking at financial and risk experience and operational skills.

“We're very fortunate to have the ability to attract this type of talent. India as a location provides a great opportunity from a student perspective to engage with us,” Cerda said.

Whenever Cerda sits with Citi’s human resource leaders to discuss hiring, he usually puts a candidate’s learning ability, agility, adaptability, determination and curiosity first.

“All of those attributes are long-lasting,” he said.

He thinks skills can be learnt but the ability to constantly updates those skills makes the difference.

ALSO READ | What Tata Power looks for in candidates when hiring

For managers, Cerda thinks success hinges on how the candidates learn.

“How you share success would be another one, and also how you support others. Those are all questions or elements that are really going to be helpful in determining how successful you would be in the future,” he said.

In conversations with potential managerial candidates, Cerda typically tends to probe how a particular thing or a project/assignment originated, what the candidate learnt from it or how he/she would support others’ learning.