Interview Failures
Moderator Note (Andy): Best of WSO - this post originally went up 3/31/2009 and we thought it deserved to go back on the homepage for those who may have never seen it.
How about a thread where we post some of the worst mistakes we've made in interviews, or perhaps an interview that just went REALLY badly for you.
For a Goldman internship back in college, the interviewers asked me to tell them about myself. This was one of my first interviews so I was very inexperienced, and I was pretty nervous. I didn't know where to begin, so I panicked and ended up giving them my life story, from where I was born all the way to college. The rest of the interview was very harsh and they really grilled me on every single thing on my resume. It was more like an interrogation than an interview. It was a typical stress interview, and I ended up finishing it with a headache, and clothes drenched with sweat. I didn't get called back.






Citi S&T. Didn't care for
Citi S&T. Didn't care for the interview, already got offer, hated Citi, got interviewed by some scrawny 22 year old analyst or temp hire who had no idea what he was doing. He asked me a bunch of quant questions which I did well on but then I bombed the next few. He then asked me about myself and I made up this entire story about how I love Habitat for Humanity and worked for hundreds of hours planting trees and handing out resumes to the homeless in order to register them for jobs. I didn't get a call back but it was probably due to bombing the problem sets, not because of the b.s.
UBS Summer Analyst interview
UBS Summer Analyst interview in San Fran. I had one of my alums gunning for me and managed to screw up one of the interviews really badly. It was an associate and analyst interviewing me and they asked me a question about something on my resume. I can't remember what it was but I had worked with an actuarial science professor, and had basically put some of that stuff on my resume without fully understanding what it was. I rambled on for like 5 mins bumbling through some haphazard explanation. The look on their face was priceless.
Needless to say, I didn't get a callback. I did have fun in SF though so the trip wasn't a total waste.
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I had a FT first round interview with GS Merchant Banking. I always welcomed the technical questions because I knew all of the answers...except to these.
The guy asked me "So what is a current ratio and what does it tell us?"
I was like, "CA/CL and it tells us if the firm can convert its short-term assets to cash and cover its liabilities for the next period.."
He said "Good. Ok, I have a company that is a great company and it has had a current ratio under 1 for a long-time, how are they doing this?
Then I fucked up the answer and the correct response was because they kept no inventory (service firm, and they had minimal A/R's)
So my ass was a little sore, but then he gave me pen and paper and asked me to unlever beta (which I fucked up on) then he asked me "So which beta would be larger unlevered or levered? I said unlevered.
Needless to say I do not work for Goldman Sachs, but we own them on this year's league tables!
Prudential capital final round
I posted on my resume "intermediate french" which at some point might have been true but i stopped speaking it at work (worked in high school and first year of college for Air France) and stopped taking classes. I had the "luck" of walking into this VP's office who after a few pleasantries in English saw the French language skill on my resume and started conducting the rest of the interview in french. I think I probably had the language skill of a six year old trying to explain why I'd give mez financing to whatever company. Didn't get the offer.
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My freshman year summer, interviewed with Soros Fund Management...
Interviewer: "Tell me about yourself"
Me: "My name is..."
got dinged
JP Morgan - full
JP Morgan - full time
interviewer asked me about where did I see the dow heading.
I said frankly I think its going to get a lot worse before it gets a lot better and bush is killing us with this war.
I have no clue why I said the last part but I had two more questions and interview ended. By the time I got home I had a voicemail that I was not moving on.
WSO Conf - June 29, 2013
Headwaters MB
I just bombed my interview for summer internship at headwaters investment bank. I had 3 interviews but the guy guy who took my technical i was certainly not ready, he asked me what is asset= libalities+? i knw that it is onwer's equity but couldn't think of that at that time
then my downfall started, he asked how would you value a private company, i said through PE ratio, he said i told u that it is private lolzz
Then he asked me to rate your MS skills i said excel to be first becoz i knw to break into IB u have to be good in that but certainly that was BS and he asked me few Q's on that i F up
Haven't heard yet but certainly will get NO
Diction
JP Morgan - full time
interviewer asked me about where did I see the dow heading.
I said frankly I think its going to get a lot worse before it gets a lot better and bush is killing us with this war.
I have no clue why I said the last part but I had two more questions and interview ended. By the time I got home I had a voicemail that I was not moving on.
Haha, never bring politics into the interview, and even if you did, did you really have to use diction that includes the word "kill"?
harry, can't believe people
harry, can't believe people like you get interviews. It's one thing to say something stupid or mess up on a difficult technical, but to go into an IB interview and not know the simplest equation in finance/accounting is ridiculous. And valuation methods?
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I just bombed my interview for summer internship at headwaters investment bank. I had 3 interviews but the guy guy who took my technical i was certainly not ready, he asked me what is asset= libalities+? i knw that it is onwer's equity but couldn't think of that at that time
then my downfall started, he asked how would you value a private company, i said through PE ratio, he said i told u that it is private lolzz
Then he asked me to rate your MS skills i said excel to be first becoz i knw to break into IB u have to be good in that but certainly that was BS and he asked me few Q's on that i F up
Haven't heard yet but certainly will get NO
lol wow......
WTF
I just bombed my interview for summer internship at headwaters investment bank. I had 3 interviews but the guy guy who took my technical i was certainly not ready, he asked me what is asset= libalities+? i knw that it is onwer's equity but couldn't think of that at that time
then my downfall started, he asked how would you value a private company, i said through PE ratio, he said i told u that it is private lolzz
Then he asked me to rate your MS skills i said excel to be first becoz i knw to break into IB u have to be good in that but certainly that was BS and he asked me few Q's on that i F up
Haven't heard yet but certainly will get NO
How did you land an interview in the first place?
Hedge Fund interview
This was for a SA Research position at a Hedge Fund, last year.
After a discussion on increasing globalization, capital flows and Asian countries.
Director: Have you heard of outsourcing?
Me: I am from Asia, you bet I have heard of outsourcing.
Then he proceeds to ask me three questions on outsourcing and related effects, none of which I am able to answer.
Feedback: Over-confidence.
My defense- Well i had 'heard' of outsourcing, I hadn't done a PhD in it.. jeez
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I just bombed my interview for summer internship at headwaters investment bank. I had 3 interviews but the guy guy who took my technical i was certainly not ready, he asked me what is asset= libalities+? i knw that it is onwer's equity but couldn't think of that at that time
then my downfall started, he asked how would you value a private company, i said through PE ratio, he said i told u that it is private lolzz
Then he asked me to rate your MS skills i said excel to be first becoz i knw to break into IB u have to be good in that but certainly that was BS and he asked me few Q's on that i F up
Haven't heard yet but certainly will get NO
Headwaters is a sinking ship anyway.
I interviewed for GS
I interviewed for GS Strategies during my sophomore year. Didn't know how did I get it, since I am not a math/coding genius, and didn't really know how to prepare since it was their first time coming on campus.
I think I coasted through their quant questions just fine -- brainteasers I happen to think the correct way. But I spaced out during the behavioral: "What is your biggest weakness?". Me: "Um.. I think I am a perfectionist". Obviously bullcrap, which I cannot elaborate upon and only fueled the interviewer's appetite for more stupid answers. Him: "How would your friends describe you?". Fuck, I definitely never thought about this. Somewhere along my feeble attempt to squirm through this question I think I mentioned "friendly", and "balanced" -- two traits that surely sealed my fate.
When I left the building, the interviewer escorted me through the door, gave his business card, shook my hand and said: "We'll see you during next year's interview rounds." And then he closed the door.
Wtf...
I just bombed my interview for summer internship at headwaters investment bank. I had 3 interviews but the guy guy who took my technical i was certainly not ready, he asked me what is asset= libalities+? i knw that it is onwer's equity but couldn't think of that at that time
then my downfall started, he asked how would you value a private company, i said through PE ratio, he said i told u that it is private lolzz
Then he asked me to rate your MS skills i said excel to be first becoz i knw to break into IB u have to be good in that but certainly that was BS and he asked me few Q's on that i F up
Haven't heard yet but certainly will get NO
Lmao...wtf man?
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