Credit Suisse Fixed Income

recently interviewed with them: expect a pretty technical interview, where you will be drilled on the finest details of what you accomplished this summer. also, i got a lot of market related questions, including "if i gave you $1M how would you invest it?" and "for the two major presidential candidates, propose me a trade if you anticipate their victory." overall, pretty fast like you'd expect for s&t, make sure you have your yield curve/bond fundamentals down.

also, no, you won't have to stay in sales your entire life..though i find that most ppl who i've met in it are there for the long run. in the end, you don't develop the analytic/quant skills as in trading, though your communication skills and a-type persona will go through the roof. good luck.

That sounds tough.
Thanks.....its my first interview

salespeople generally have great exit opps - especially out of fixed income. the reason is that much of the time, salespeople are the ones who develop investment ideas and solutions for clients - they are the ones who see the fundamental value that hedge funds, insurance cos, mutual funds, etc want. Traders are more concerned with the risk on their books (liquidity and hedging constraints); they maintain interest in long-term value because that is what will drive demand, but traders don't want positions.

credit suisse is very technical and, as they haven't been hurt too bad, stand to grab a lot of market share; they'll have their pick of the litter. I recall their interview process being pretty drawn out (and this was in a good market), so I'd expect a lenghty process if you make it past 1st rounds.