junior positon Interview - Equity Capital Markets
Anonymous employee in Haidian Qu
Interviewed:
August
2018
Date Submitted:
Sep 30, 2026
Outcome
Accepted Offer
Interview Source
Recruiter
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Skills Test
Personality Test
Background Check
Interview
The hiring process consisted of three rounds.
The first round was a written assessment, including quantitative and logical reasoning questions as well as a writing section. The writing portion was relatively unique to the nature of an exchange. Candidates were asked to comment on recent news or market developments related to derivatives, so it tested both writing ability and understanding of financial markets.
The second round was a leaderless group discussion. The topics were usually open-ended questions where both sides could be reasonably defended. For example, one topic discussed whether futures prices lead spot prices or spot prices lead futures prices. We had about five minutes to organize our thoughts, followed by a 20-minute group discussion. Each group had more than ten candidates, so the actual speaking time for each person was quite limited. The interviewers mainly observed how candidates structured their arguments, communicated, and interacted with others.
The final round was a panel interview. Several department heads or senior managers interviewed candidates together. Most questions were fairly standard behavioral questions, such as why you wanted to join the exchange, how you thought about your career path, and what kind of work interested you. Although the questions were conventional, they gave candidates a good opportunity to show their individual personalities and motivations.
Candidates waited in a common area and entered the interview room in sequence. I waited for around one hour, and the final interview itself lasted approximately 30 minutes.
The first round was a written assessment, including quantitative and logical reasoning questions as well as a writing section. The writing portion was relatively unique to the nature of an exchange. Candidates were asked to comment on recent news or market developments related to derivatives, so it tested both writing ability and understanding of financial markets.
The second round was a leaderless group discussion. The topics were usually open-ended questions where both sides could be reasonably defended. For example, one topic discussed whether futures prices lead spot prices or spot prices lead futures prices. We had about five minutes to organize our thoughts, followed by a 20-minute group discussion. Each group had more than ten candidates, so the actual speaking time for each person was quite limited. The interviewers mainly observed how candidates structured their arguments, communicated, and interacted with others.
The final round was a panel interview. Several department heads or senior managers interviewed candidates together. Most questions were fairly standard behavioral questions, such as why you wanted to join the exchange, how you thought about your career path, and what kind of work interested you. Although the questions were conventional, they gave candidates a good opportunity to show their individual personalities and motivations.
Candidates waited in a common area and entered the interview room in sequence. I waited for around one hour, and the final interview itself lasted approximately 30 minutes.
Interview Questions
The most unexpected question was a detailed follow-up about one of my academic papers.
The paper was genuinely my own work, but by the time of the interview, I had already forgotten some of the more specific details, such as parts of the methodology and the reasoning behind certain design choices. I could still explain the overall research question, main approach, and conclusions, but I was less prepared for very detailed technical follow-up questions.
That question was difficult mainly because I had focused my preparation on behavioral questions and general market knowledge rather than revisiting every detail of an older paper. It reminded me that anything included on a resume or application can potentially be discussed in depth, even if it was completed quite some time ago.
The paper was genuinely my own work, but by the time of the interview, I had already forgotten some of the more specific details, such as parts of the methodology and the reasoning behind certain design choices. I could still explain the overall research question, main approach, and conclusions, but I was less prepared for very detailed technical follow-up questions.
That question was difficult mainly because I had focused my preparation on behavioral questions and general market knowledge rather than revisiting every detail of an older paper. It reminded me that anything included on a resume or application can potentially be discussed in depth, even if it was completed quite some time ago.
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