Please, help me to *not* fail this interview

I am currently a junior at a semi target school. Basically, summer analyst recruiting has been a shit show for me. So far, I've only gotten two OCIs, two phone interviews, and one superday in a variety of roles such as IB, corp fin, and AM. I've received no offers yet, despite thinking a few of them went very well given they were mostly behavioral.

I was just invited to one final superday of the semester, which will be happening in a little over a week. It is for the investment arm of AIG, and I'd be filling a portfolio analyst role. I'm extremely interested in this opportunity. Bottom line is, I don't want another great opportunity to slip past me again.

Overall, after doing some research, it sounds like this interview is very behavioral, with maybe a few brainteasers and very simple technicals. For the behavioral questions, what qualities/experience should I try to link to this job? And where can I study up on some basic bond math/credit/other technicals?

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Best Response

From my experiences, the best interviews I had this recruiting season were the ones where I didn't try too hard to get my finance knowledge across. I had a few superdays at BB's and did some serious reflection after I didn't get an offer from any of them.

I found that I was trying too hard to get them to recognize my technical knowledge and the fact that I live and breathe finance. If the interview is mostly behavioral, that means they want to know who you are. At my next superday, I talked about my high school summer jobs, my interests, my likes, and left the investment/finance clubs, brokerage account, case competitions, etc. out of the equation. I ended up getting the offer for that superday.

Not sure if this is what your looking for, but keep this in mind, especially for an AM position. They need a real person, show them your diversified while still coming across as intelligent.

Hope this helps and best of luck.

 

This is something I didn't really think about- thank you! Looking back, I've definitely gotten the question "What do you do in your free time?" and maybe I tried too hard to link my extracurricular activities to the job.

On that note, does anyone know anything about the culture at AIG?

Array
 

With regards to behavioural, I’d suggest make a list of 5 experiences you’ve had (ran a student club, organised a charity dinner, interned at XYZ, etc), and practise using those to answer any typical interview questions.

Secondly, beyond the STAR method, try to tick of the following things when answering a question using an experience (“tell me a time you showed leadership”): - In what way did you go out of your way to get the role (unusual for a fresher to take responsibility, perhaps) - In what way did you motivate/inspire others to do a great job - What was challenging about it?

 

Hey man I went through something similar. What I found really helped me was emphasizing into my prep the way I presented myself. That is, I made sure to speak eloquently and think through all of my thoughts before speaking. I believe this is something you can change overnight and I think having this attitude going forward will help you out a lot.

Looking past on some past interviews, I would spit out technicals like an absolute ass and not understand why I wasn't getting offers. It's all about how you present yourself. PM if you want to talk.

 

How should I phrase my past experiences/resume walk through? Does it have to be in chronological order? My very first internship was in PWM, which is probably the most relevant for this position (over marketing & business development and corporate strategy). How do I emphasize my work there, even though it was a while ago (summer after freshman year)?

Array
 

Hey everyone, thanks again for the helpful advice. I just had my superday a few days ago. Definitely just tried to be myself, and not come across as a finance nerd. Two of my interviews were pretty average, but I felt like one of them went especially well. Hopefully will hear back soon.

Array
 

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