Sales and Trade Summer Analyst interview at J.P. Morgan
I've been reading the Vault guide to S&T interviews and keeping up with the Wall Street journal, but I'm curious to see what questions all you traders can remember from your interviews in recent years. I'm only an undergraduate sophomore, and I'm interviewed for a Sales role in Summer 2011.
prepare for a backlash for not searching on your own
http://www.amazon.com/Heard-Street-Quantitative-Questions-Interviews/dp…
You need to exercise like crazy- and I mean 6 minute mile speeds crazy- the night before the interview. And take some St. John's Wort. They will want to see how you handle stress. They will be very direct, very frank, very unfiltered, and act like every question is easy and only a moron wouldn't be able to solve some partial differential equation while he's watching you fumble your way through the problem. And you'll need to survive five half-hour interviews like this without freaking out.
Enlist help from your friends- ideally, a TA or somebody with professional experience in trading. Hand them the book, have them start asking you questions like a trader would, and practice handling the toughest interviews with grace.
If you can make it through a trading interview, you can make it through just about any kind of interview in finance.
he's a summer analyst... chances are he will only get fit questions and "where do you think the market is going" or "what is quantitative easing"
Not true. Though summer analyst interviews are less stress-based, it's certainly not uncommon to get interviewers who try to make you buckle under pressure. I remember my final round MS interviews in particular were really intense.
If the interview is specifically only for sales or risk management or quant work, I would imagine it will be moderately lower key, but still significantly stress based to the point that it will be a very tough 2.5 hours.
The interview isn't just about your quantitative ability- it's about your ability to have grace under fire while the market is falling apart, traders are yelling at you, and most normal people would be tempted to run around like a chicken missing its head. Already having an offer lined up, taking St. Johns Wort ahead of the interview, and getting strenuous exercise the night before will all make the interview a little bit easier.
that doesn't mean it's going to be too technical... if you're an econ major and you've only taken macro micro econometrics corprate finance accounting calc lin algebra ODE probability stat, how are you going to know how to price an option or anything beyond basic knowledge of current events and financial products?
Really? My MS superday was completely fit apart from one lady out of the five interviewers who gave me a couple technicals, but even then it was slow and measured, not rapid-pace.
I didn't prepare remotely enough for it and felt I passed with flying colors, fit always felt like it came naturally to me. Apparently the MD running the division's recruiting thought so too.
A 1500/1600 SAT comes naturally to some also while breaking a 1000 is an incredible feat for others. If you meet enough traders before the interview and get a sense of who they are you can call Bullshit when they ask you a ridiculous question you know none of the others would be able to answer, and there are plenty of traders that are not that great at those puzzles.
.
My JPM SA interview if i remember correctly was very technical.
First round: Three interviews, one of which was purely mental maths and brainteasers (if not prepared then good luck)
Second round: interviews where i basically got taken to a side office and grilled on options and CDS until they found my breaking point
JP Morgan sales and trading off cycle internship superday interview (Originally Posted: 03/03/2016)
Were you a Wharton MBA? or was this a FT position after undergrad? Seems highly technical for someone without a finance background so you must of had a lot about that on your resume.
It was an undergrad summer intern position London The brainteaser interview was standard for all, the second round grilling was because i mentioned in my cover letter my options trading.
Did you have to do a numerical/reasoning test for your application? If so you will likely have to repeat the test in a controlled environment, hence the request to bring a calculator.
Competency questions are standard, use the search function and there will be so so much info on them.
Do you know what sector the derivatives sales is in? Commodity derivatives? Interest rate derivatives? Equity?
I would say futures and options are the place to look, but that recommendation could change depending on the desk. Worth knowing about the simple greeks, and knowing how to hedge them cant hurt.
Check out the JPM share price on the day of your interview too.
If you let us know for which product you will be doing derivative sales someone may offer some more advice. Out of interest, when did you apply, and did you apply for the general off cycle internship or a specific one? Whats your background (still at university or working?).
My JPM interview had a few technicals, but nothing too bad. Was mostly fit.
S&T Interview- JP Morgan Public Finance (Originally Posted: 03/11/2011)
I have an interview next week for a full time s&t position for JP Morgan's muni bond desk on the west coast. Is there anything that differs for muni bonds that differ from the advice I have been using to prep below? How does JP Morgan's culture compare to other trading desks and the best way I can prepare for fit questions?
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/gekkos-guidance-part-2-st-interview-prep
bump
I have an interview for the same position but in a different company and in East Cost. What kind of questions did JPM asked you ? Did they asked you a lot about the muni market?
They ended up canceling my interview last minute in favor of someone more experienced.
Interesting Gekko, because my JPM interviews and my friend's JPM interviews were quite technical. In fact I thought JPM had a reputation of being technical
*Although this was not for S&T and we're dem non target boyzz
Like derivstrading, I got asked on CDS pricing as well by a JPM trader. Was for an undergrad SA position.
What was your response exactly? Were they satisfied?
oh god i guess mentioning any technical experience will get you some pretty ugly technical question boo
Yeah. Maybe it's the fact that I made sure my resume and all my answers to questions early on in the interview painted a picture of me as a very not quant-heavy candidate, and consequently I don't think I've ever had more than two technicals in an interview, many without any at all.
I had technicals, but it wasn't anything too bad. Some product related questions, how to hedge, the risks, general economy, what would you invest in,ect. I think I had one expected value, but that was it. Most of the technicals came from one interviewer, the rest were fit/shooting the shit about whatever topic came up.
sales wasn't as technical but a few of the people on the team will ramp it up and stress test you with some rapid-fire technicals; mostly want to get a feel for your background and will adjust accordingly. it also varies by product; this was a very quantitative product. friends for generalist pools often got brainteasers
Dolor eum sit sed totam incidunt. In et harum soluta ex repellendus ipsa. Unde hic distinctio sit ad vel. Quo doloremque eos consequatur sit. Ipsum quas id voluptate maxime distinctio nobis. Dolore facilis tenetur numquam placeat quas culpa rerum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Voluptates vel asperiores non nobis rerum quaerat minima illo. Placeat occaecati adipisci nemo incidunt quasi inventore.
Facilis exercitationem ab non mollitia. Rerum quae sit deleniti voluptatum non nostrum. Nemo aliquid impedit saepe amet cum illum. Pariatur perferendis libero dolorem ut.