How many interviews did you have before landing your first FT job?

I went 0 for 3 sophomore year and 2 for 6 junior year for SA.

The same characters make it through the first round. The final round is hit or miss.

I did 5 interviews + Bain Consulting and I got to the final rounds of every company except for one. I ended up with an offer from a lower tier BB and cancelled two final rounds.

that was fo SA. I accepted the full time offer without further interviewing

Went abroad second semester junior year. Had 2 superdays with CS and Bear Stearns before leaving and a phone interview with JP Morgan while abroad. Struck out with all of em. (Semi-target school)

Got the full-time one though :)

3/6 this year.

Cancelled interviews with the last three at the superday stage since I had an offer from my #1.

I interviewed with 6 or so different banks. I ended up getting an offer from my #1 and halted the remainder of my interviews. 3 more banks attempted to start interviews (which I turned away). Not 100% what my success rate would have been, but it didn't matter because I got the one I wanted.

(Full Time)

3 for 5 in final rounds. Stopped the progress with 2 additional banks after I had a tier 1 offer. Getting the first round interview seemed pretty consistent, but 2nd rounds can be a toss up depending on the individual interviewers. For example, I had an interviewer at CS who asked very non-standard questions and as a result I was unable to click with the interviewer. Other interviews went very well, but I got the axe regardless.

My experience was that the first rounds are generally predictable, but not 100%; I got 2nd round summer invites from firms I didn't think I would. I didn't get called back for some I thought I should've.

But it tends to be the same handful of people at the final round of each bank. I agree with the poster that said final rounds are a bit more random, unless you are clearly a top candidate and interview well..in which case it won't be.

After my SA program, only applied to two that I would've traded my offer for and got invited to interview for a third one by an alumn. Got into all final rounds. Got what I wanted, cancelled the rest of the final interviews.

Getting selected for interviews is predictable. If you have a strong gpa, and relevant previous work experience with a Bulge Bracket or even MM you will likely be selected.

Getting past the first round and to Super Day is more unpredictable. It depends on the interviewer and your interviewing skills.

I hate to put people down on this board, but... JambaMan = new AspiringMonkey. Always ready with advice but no experience.

5 interviews, got an offer, cancelled 2 final rounds (this is for sa)

2 interviews, 1 offer , 10 applications

6 applications, 6 first rounds, 5 final rounds, 4 offers (for SA)

From my experience first round apps usually consist of an online component and an app through your schools career office. I found this method to be pretty successful.

1/4 this year, phew!!

apply to as many places as possible and if you get too many interviews cancel a few...

Shoot for as many interviews as possible. I always cast a wide net when applying for jobs. Interviewing is the best way to improve your interview skills. Unless you are already really confident with your interviewing skills I would try to get many interviews. For example, if you really want to do banking, consider interviewing for research and S&T also. This will make you a more well rounded interviewer, and will expose you to more potential questions.

During my junior year at a semi target I had about 15 interviews, 7 superdays, and got 3 offers (all IBD). I did not get offers following my first 3 superdays, but after that I got 3 offers in a row, suggesting that I improved with more interviews.

Don't worry about having "too many" interviews. Its a good problem to have.

Apply to anything and everything. Don't want to regret missing out an opportunity, and you can't really judge where you'll get an interview invite from. (If firms don't have formal recruiting processes at your school, and you have to apply online -- realize that the firm is also getting thousands of other applicants.)

We have a recent post from a current ibanker from a non-target and his interview experience at the link below.

Chase Us, Break In!

The Recruiting Ace: An Inside Look at Banking, Finance, and Management Consulting RESUME AND COVER LETTER RE-WRITES http://chasingconsultantsbreakingbankers.blogspot.com/

Agree with above posters that you can't have too many interviews. Worst case, cancel when the time comes. However, I don't agree with big10banker that you'll do well to apply to research and S&T as well. In my experiences, people do best when they focus their recruiting efforts on what they really want to do. Having S&T interviews will make you feel inclined to prep stuff that you wouldn't otherwise waste time prepping if you were only interviewing for banking.

I applied to every bank possible with absolutely no discrimination. At the very least, those firms that I wasn't too keen on working at were a great way to get into first round interviewing mode, learn from mistakes, and nail my later, more important interviews.

dude, keep applying and interviewing until you have multiple offers

don't plan to succeed, plan to fail ... and you will succeed

interested

There is no statistic you should be focusing on. Apply to absolutely every open position, prepare for each like it matters the most, and keep your head down. It is a tough hiring environment. Kids who would easily have notched interviews with every single bulge bracket firm a year or two ago are struggling to get UBS, BAML, and Citi interviews. Hang in there, it only takes one. Make sure you keep that in mind.

if you applied to 2 positions at every bank, that makes 20-25 positions, you need 15+ to be competitive, but you'll probably get an offer with 5-10 first rounds. like cik11 said, you'll see the same people interviewing for about 2 weeks. i only applied to BB, have 6 interviews so far, still waiting on about 15 more positions

probably around 10-12

Depends on the bank/school. I've seen as few as 8 and as many as 72.

I don't know about an average... but I had friends at my school that topped 40 interviews (including second round and super-days) who did not land an internship. (so about 20 firms). Personally, I interviewed with 5 firms and was fortunate.

In the end, it really depends on the candidate.

nas2008:

I got the impression here that once you have an interview it's all on you, but I guess now it's a different story given these rocky times, can someone elaborate on that?

I do think that once you've gotten the interview, it's all on how you perform. There were plenty of more "qualified" candidates/(friends) that interviewed in front of me who didn't get offers.

Also, I don't think interviewers will ding you for your ethnic background.

nas2008, don't bullshit me. Bankers or imanagers don't like Arabs? wtf? do you seriously think that that's the primary reason that you aren't getting offers? It's all based on how you present yourself. I know this kid who was born and raised in Queens, NY with this thick Queens ghetto accent and still got a BB IBD offer. He is a very personal kid and I wasn't surprised when he got 3 offers from BBs this summer. In fact, there are prominent Arabic investment managers out there. For example, Mohamed El-Erian who is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of PIMCO. He was previously the investment manager for the Harvard University endowment fund. Just practice your interview more, you will be fine. And yes, the job market is shitty so don't be too harsh on yourself.

I thought of it this way. If my chance of landing a BB SA were 1:1000, I should be happy to get rejections after rejections so that I can get to that 1 offer as soon as possible. What I mean is that, don't be too harsh on yourself and don't come up with these half-ass conspiracy theories that bankers don't like Arabs. Enjoy your interview process and try to improve and while doing so, have fun.

Good luck.

I got at least 40 interviews ( including first and superdays)

three offers at hand ( not that great of offers, but I will take it)

Even in better economic times it is normal to go through a period of job searching and interviews that span months rather than mere number of attempts. It's really more about the firm finding the right candidate. Although the economy is difficult at the moment, the qualifications and competancies of the applicant will trump any housing crisis or slumping stock exchange.

Nas, you should remain poised and confident throughout the process. Investment firms like revenue and the individuals who will secure new sources of that revenue.

Thank you for your responses guys, I have two questions:

1. I still maintain good relations with most of my interviewees, and other people who I networked with, some who forwarded my resume along and/or offered their help. Is there any advantage of having applied to a firm with getting an interview as apposed of having applied to a firm with not getting an interview when I apply for next year for full time positions?

2. I applied last year to a hedge fund internship, and I was interviewed with so many people and really liked that HF. I was not offered an opportunity last summer. I am planning on applying to apply to the same HF, are there any tips how can I approach them again?

Thanks, Nas

if you are asking a question like that on wso, i imagine that you are unknowingly giving off a negative vibe to interviewers. if they didn't want arabic people to begin with, they wouldn't have called you for an interview. it is a rough time, but if you get interviews, the ball is in your court. i can't emphasize how much a positive attitude helped me with the recruiting process. my 1st round to 2nd round conversion rate was more than 50%, and i got my first choice for fulltime.

Congrats on your offer. Yeah, I really kept a very positive attitude with my interviewers and actually one of them said to me you are very fit for the job and he said that he is very impressed. While I don't take anything that my interviewer say for granted, I don't think that I left a negative attitude from my end.

It' hard for me to believe that decisions are made only based on interview performances. I tried to get feedback form my interviewers and HR. One of them said that she enjoyed our discussions and they had to choose candidate who have relevant experience, and the other HR lady said that there were other factors were taken into account other that how well I did in the interview.

In another interview, he didn't take a look at my resume. the interviewer just asked me one question and that's it and the interviewer lasted less than 5 minutes in a 30 minute interview.I felt he was not handling the interview appropriately He didn't even introduce himself or his to me and therefore, I didn't even know what his name was.

I really don't object to his interviewing style, but I was surprised and it really made me wonder further. Maybe it's just a rough time for everyone.

It took me about that many before I got offers. This was a bit over a year ago (I started work in June). I interviewed with nearly every bank, and some consulting firms as well, even the Corp fin department of Fortune 100 firms. At the end of the whole stressful process I got 3 offers. Keep in mind this was in a better economy, and I had already interned at a BB bank the summer prior.

Things are tough out there, good luck.

In my (humble) view, recruiting is less like a numbers-statistics game (if I hit 60% of my 1st rounds and 80% of my 2nd rounds...) than the pickup scene. There are some guys that get laid every night, and some guys who...don't. From what I've seen in recruiting, people either have multiple offers or none.

Of course, my own experience runs counter to that...but I had specific reasons that I wanted to be in the bank-office-group where I landed for this summer.

Only had one interview and was fortunate enough to land that position for the summer time.

Practice really does make perfect. The more interview experience/practice you get, the more natural you feel and the vibe that you give off is much better once you are relaxed and confident.