Smith and Williamson Interview Questions

1 total interview insight submissions
Interview Experience (30%)

The Interview Experience is a score from 1 star (very negative) to 5 stars (very positive) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. If you hover over the various sections of the donut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more reviews, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire dataset.

4
  • Very Negative
  • Negative
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Very Positive
Interview Difficulty (36%)

The Interview Difficulty is a score ranging from very difficult (red) to very easy (green) generated based on the Interview Insights at this company.

The number you see in the middle of the doughnut pie chart is the simple average of these scores. The higher the number, the more difficult the interviews on average. If you hover over the various sections of the doughnut, you will see the % breakdown of each score given.

The percentile score in the title is calculated across the entire Company Database and uses an adjusted score based on Bayesian Estimates (to account for companies that have few interview insights). Simply put, as a company gets more insights, the confidence of a "true score" increases so it is pulled closer to its simple average and away from the average of the entire data set.

3
  • Very Easy
  • Easy
  • Average
  • Difficult
  • Very Difficult

Interviews at Smith and Williamson

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Year
Job Title
Group/Division
Location
Experience
Difficulty
1st Year Analyst
Year 2014
Job Title 1st Year Analyst
Group/Division Investment Management
Location London
Experience
Positive
Difficulty
Average

Interview Questions & Answers - Smith and Williamson Examples

1st Year Analyst Interview - Investment Management

Anonymous interview candidate in London
Interviewed: January 2014
Date Submitted: Aug 04, 2014
Outcome
Declined Offer
Interview Source
Applied Online
Length of Process
1-2 months
Application
1 on 1 Interview
Presentation
Skills Test
Interview
The interview process for Smith and Williamson is much like that for other firms that have standardised Graduate Schemes in London.

Obviously first you apply online and answer a series of questions on the company, what sets it apart etc. You then do numerical and verbal reasoning tests

If you are successful you are invited to an assessment center. This consists of another numerical test (if you fail you are sent home) and in the afternoon you do a group exercise and a written test. Obviously here they are looking for people who work well in a team in the group exercise and technical knowledge in the written exercise. Both are relatively simple.

If you get through that stage you are invited to a partner interview. You are asked several questions about your CV, but the main focus is on pitching a stock to partners and also on describing what your asset allocation would look like in current market conditions. A general awareness of macro/recent business news and ability to articulate the effects of this news on the economy is more important (in my opinion) than a very technical knowledge of individual stock prices.
Interview Questions
What stock do you feel is currently undervalued?
How would you invest a portfolio of X millions in current market conditions? In which asset class do you see the most value
What do you think the investment process looks like at S&W? How are decisions made?
Sample Answer