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.

 
Best Response

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.

 

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.

 

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.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 
A Posse Ad Esse:
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.

 
derivstrading:
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

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.

 
tabthe:
derivstrading:
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

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.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

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?

 

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

 

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 am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

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.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

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.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”