Equity Research Associate

Round 1 was mainly to assess fit, only technical question was to pitch a stock. Round 2 was a meeting with the analyst, this was mostly fit, felt like a coffee meeting rather than an interview, it was more to see how we might get along and work together. Round 3 was a timed 3 hour writing test. Round 4 was a peer interview with a panel of associates. They mostly wanted to see if I knew what I'm getting into in terms of hours/challenge etc; what makes someone a good ER; why ER etc. Round 5 was a call with the Head of ER. He asked me what my strongest suit is and why I think it's that; how does my experience relate to this role; and of course, he asked me to pitch a stock as well. Round 6 was with a couple of equity sales/trading colleagues. This felt like a psychological test. They were trying to find out why I am here, why ER, if I am truly going to enjoy doing a position such as this; at what point in my life did I know this is the path I want to take; what book am I currently reading; stock pitch in the specific sector I will be working in. They were trying to get to know the real me and make sure that I am actually interested in ER.

I enjoyed each round because while they were trying to assess fit, I also got a good sense of the type of people I would be working with and for. It gave me a good sense of the culture. The writing test was really interesting. The first half was auditing a written sample, so they were assessing my attention to detail. The second half was me reading about an event that's occurred with supporting documents, and writing my own analysis on it.