IB Associate

I recruited through OCR and was asked to come directly to the firm's offices to meet with people. I thought this would be informational (this was implied through email communication), but it turned out to be a series of interviews with mostly junior bankers. It was pretty standard IB fare - why IB, why this firm, a few technical questions and lots of resume review. I genuinely liked the junior people at the firm, but got a weird vibe from them. They pitched the firm in the typical manner, but I got some serious caveat emptor undertones. I got the sense that there was a lot more cultural/philosophical disparity between junior and senior bankers than at other middle market firms to whom I was talking. I came back for a second super day and met primarily with the senior bankers. This was a negative experience compared to the first round. The attitude of some of these guys really turned me off. I had about eight half hour interviews, and most were above average on the stress scale. Two of the MDs put their feet on the desk with soles pointed toward me, two took personal calls during the interview, and another was sending emails for the better part of the half hour. Overall, very light on technical questions, moderate on resume and past experience, and heavy on my "why banking" pitch. There are definitely some accomplished senior bankers working there, but it really struck me as a bizarre place. Caveat emptor.