Investment Banking Summer Analyst

We have several guys from our non-target school there, so one of the analysts that had graduated two years earlier came and interviewed 15 kids from my school. I had already had a few phone conversations with the guy that came to interview and I had actually been in the same apartment complex and hung out once with him before he left for full time a few years ago so we knew each other somewhat before the interview began. I also had a high recommendation to an MD in that guys group from another person I had interned for the summer before so I had a few connections in. When the analyst came out and interviewed he asked the usual set of questions that come in interviews, nothing unusual or crazy. I did well and was passed on to a superday where I interviewed with four people from various groups within the bank. Apart from Nomura I also superdayed with a few other banks including JPM and the one thing I would say that separated Nomura from the others was the culture. The people there seemed really friendly and generally laid back. I heard a few people from another set of interviews I have that said they had heard Nomura is a sweatshop but that was not at all my perception.

For me personally what set that interview apart from the ones I wasn't so successful at was how well I connected with each interviewer. At the end of each interview I came out feeling like I had just had a good conversation with someone. I felt like I really just acted like myself and that really helped to win over the interviewers. You can do a lot of prep, I know I did, but that was definitely not what won the interview. What won the interview was being nice, humble and conversational.