Institutional Equity Sales Analyst

The interview came about through a friends suggestion to reach out to an individual in a hiring position. I had seen the job posting on Barclays career section, and it was a stroke of luck that this possible connection worked on the same desk as the opportunity. I crafted an email, with a "what have I got to lose" mentality, which caught some attention. The following morning, I received a call from the manager, and we spoke briefly about my email and my interest in equity sales. It turned out that the managing director responsible for hiring wasn't this particular individual. However, he reached out on my behalf and set up a meeting. It was all very informal, and once I arrived and checked myself in, the receptionist asked me if I was there for "the interview." This shocked and delighted me, because I was expecting only a chat, but now realized I had a shot at the position. The process that followed was all very informal. I had the opportunity to speak with a few younger people before the hiring manager. Each person had their own feel and style. When it came to the hiring manager he was very direct, which I always prefer, and we got along quite well. The questions were 90% about my background/resume (which is non target, decent GPA, two buy-side internships, nothing dazzling). "Why you?", "Why didn't you do this?" , "Why isn't your GPA higher?" The feedback I received while we spoke was that he appreciated my honesty, and it didn't seem like any of my answers had been rehearsed. In the end, he said that he had liked me best so far out of the two dozen or so he interviewed, and I'd be back in to spend a day and see if I would actually enjoy it. Naturally I was fired up, but he then said, again bluntly, that if another candidate came along that he like as much as me, with a better resume, he'd drop me in a second. Unfortunately that person came along. I followed up to set a date for the sit-in, and he responded that he wanted to be considerate of my time, and would contact me should the candidate choose not to accept (who wouldn't accept). In summation, good experience, informal, clearly a fit interview, appreciated honesty, Advice may include, having a stock pitch handy just in case, be relaxed, portray yourself as someone the guy interviewing you can imagine sitting next to and being able to hang out with 5 days a week, and for equity sales -- have a subservient (his word), whatever it takes, love to make the client feel like they own you, attitude.