Double Superdays - Lessons Learned

This is just an account of an experience I had and what I learned.

I had two (arguably three as one was for two different positions at one bank) superdays on one day for a BB and MM in two different states. There really was no way to rescedule any of them - believe me, I tried. It was surprisingly manageable, thought not advisable. However, since I did do it, I thought I'd offer some insights to anyone who might ever find themselves in a similar position. All in all, I did 14 half hour interviews with 27 people in one day and ended up with 2 offers.

Plan plan plan There is no such thing as overplanning if you're going to try to do this. You need to have every single mode of transportation you take, place you eat, bathroom break you need planned out as well with a backup plan and a backup for your backup. Snafus in travel time might be your biggest risk.

Communicate While you might be scared to let your potential employers know you're interviewing for another bank, it is actually better to be open. I have a few reasons to support this belief. Before listing my reasons, first there's a few caveats to communication. When I say to be open, I really mean selectively open. You only need to share as much as you want to ie. what other bank it's at, if it's a first round or superday, etc. It's important that you let them know that they are your first choice and to be likeable. Don't be arrogant and remember that they are doing you a favor not the other way around. I was very open with both HR teams and they both were entirely understanding, and in fact helped me manuever my time slots to make both interviews possible. HR deals with hundreds of applicants. They don't live in a bubble; they know you're interviewing with other banks and in fact it'd be bad if you weren't. If they bothered to offer you an interview and you aren't an ass towards them, then they will work with you.

Now for my reasons: First, it makes you appear more in demand. It also might incentivize them to accelerate their response times as they know you have a competing timeline. Second, it actually demonstrates a strong work ethic. In one of my interviews I was asked how I could demonstrate drive and ability to hustle through a 14+ hours work day. I pointed out that I had attended a late pre-interview session the day before, started interviews that morning at 8am, it was nearly noon and I was about to hop on a train to another state to continue interviews. He agreed that that was indeed hustling and I was later given an offer for the group. Not to say my response is why, but it definitely didn't adversely impact me. Third, while interviewing for 7 hours in one day might seem intimidating, remember that it isn't one long 7 hour interview but broken up into many small half hour interviews. Contrary to logic, I actually had some of the best interviews of my life at the end of the day. Because even though you've given your spiel over a dozen times that day, it's fresh for each of your interviewers. By the end of the day I could deliver my resume walk-through like a pro. I'd worked out every nerve and anxiety. I knew exactly what comments were well received and which weren't. There wasn't a question I hadn't heard yet and didn't know how to answer by the end. You ever have an interview and afterwards keep thinking about a certain question and how you could've better answered it? Well that's what it was like except I did have a second chance to answer it.

Double booking happens but don't double book at one firm I really don't regret my decision to interview at two banks in one day. But I did regret interviewing for two positions at one firm in one day. I was theoretically doing two superdays with two departments at the second bank that day. You could tell immediately that they'd previously decided to push me towards one. Regardless, I was only going to get one offer from one of the groups that day. HR made sure I understood that in advance, but I thought maybe I could learn something that would tip me in one direction in one day. However, in hindsight, if I'd just done more thorough research in advance, I could have made a decision in advance. You better believe both roles I interviewed with knew I was interviewing with another group within the bank and asked me why I wanted their group more. Interviewing for just one position makes you appear to have more conviction and makes your plea more persuasive.

Don't rely on superday schedules Before your superday, Banks will send you a schedule, sometimes it will even include the names of the individuals you're scheduled to speak with. It has been my experience in all but one instance, that they do not stick to the schedule. The BB superday that day was 4 hours of back-to-back interviews. The MM said it would accommodate me by cutting both my superdays in half and have 4 interviewers in each room rather than 2, for a total of 1.5 hours of interviews. Instead I interviewed with 13 individuals for over 3 hours. A superday I had on a different day with another bank sent me a schedule with two interviews and a list of 4 names. I ended up interviewing for nearly 4 hours with far more individuals. I don't know if my experiences have been a norm, or extraordinary circumstances, but it would do interview hopefuls good to know that these possibilities are very real and to be prepared for such scenarios in advance.

Hopefully something in here will help someone. Again, I am not advocating for multiple superdays in one day, but only offering some insight for anyone who like me finds themself in that position with no alternative options.

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