Last chance at FT…
Hi everyone, I’m a final year student at a non target in London. I’ve been trying to land a ft position in asset management but keep failing at the last hurdle. I’ve had so many interviews/assessment centres over the last 8 months, including at BlackRock, Fidelity, Capital Group, even a SA position at a hedge fund, but I keep getting dinged after my final round. Feedback has basically been I was really good but there were better candidates.
I have around 8 final rounds coming up, ranging from investment analyst at a $400b+ AUM asset manager, analyst at a small wealth manager, actuarial, client services and operations at am’s. I can’t attend all the interviews due to exams, and I’m aiming for the investment analyst position as it’s a pipeline to become a PM.
My approach has to change but I’m not sure on which aspect. I network, have a good cv, always pass screening tests, good at video and first round interviews, present well and ask good questions but I’m missing something. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do to secure the investment analyst position? thanks in advance.
You're probably coming across as weird or not personable. Clearly your competency and motivation is not an issue since you're getting to the final rounds (what university is this? QMUL?), but "there were better candidates" usually means that it's a fit issue, i.e., they think you wouldn't fit into the team because you're not being personable.
How are the interviews going? Is it conversational or question, answer, question, answer?
Are you being normal in the interviews? When someone asks how you are, do you just say "fine, and you?", or do you talk about your day?
I think this is what you need to do to nail it. The good thing is, your chances of landing a position now is pretty high. I read somewhere that the probability of you landing an offer in your first ever final round is low, maybe like 40%. Wide range of factors, like you could just not be as polished, unprepared, or whatever else. But that probability of you landing something rises with every final round you have. So 1-0.6 is 40%. But at your fifth AC the probability is something like 92%. Math works for me because I got my IBD offer after my fifth try lol
I think you’re right, I’m definitely not coming off as personable. I’m quite reserved and my nerves are making it even worse.
The interviews are always question, answer, question and then I ask questions at the end. I ask the interviewer questions about themselves to try and build rapport, but I guess it’s not working. I definitely don’t look like a culture fit and I don’t know how to try to “act” like one either and that’s where I’m falling short.
Rapport should be built at the start of the conversation. When asked how you are talk a bit about your day like you would with someone older than you (rather than a friend). If you didn't do much, just make something up which you usually do. E.g., "I'm good, I had a quite good week seeing my friends to play tennis a few days ago and reading so and so" etc.
Yeah I definitely don’t do that, I’ll need to focus on making it a conversation. Thanks for your advice, you’ve given me a lot to think about.
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