16 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Catch-all broad and vague term to define interns that just are not suitable

Reasons I have seen:
 

Being weird/creepy, arrogance and hubris, not being coachable or receptive to feedback, just being a complete sperg that doesn't understand social dynamics, lack of confidence or assertiveness, seniors not feeling as if they can trust you to be in front of clients (even with 3-4 years of training)

This is an incredibly important part of the recruitment process and probably more important than technical chops or raw intelligence. You got 8-10 weeks to show that you are a fit and you can't have any of the above as they are seen as red flags

 

Yep, I'm still relatively junior but seen plenty of examples of work-place politics where people much rather prefer someone sociable and who they 'can have a drink with' rather than someone who may be technically brighter but a bit introverted. Does definitely matter 

 

Agree with one additional point: someone on the team (who probably sucks) has decided they don't like and /or want to hire you for whatever reason and is using this catch-all excuse to deny you. Sucks but probably for the best long term 

 

And they sometimes mean it literally: you're just not a good fit. You're smart & likeable, but your philosophy on risk management isn't what we want to do here, or your personality just doesn't mesh, or you're clearly too ambitious to be happy in this role for long, etc.

I've turned down lots of smart & likeable candidates cause it was obvious that the decisions they'd make would be...not necessarily bad, but conflicting with the way I want to run my team, and I don't want to spend all my time clashing with you over that.

 

I keep on hearing about some people being "too ambitious to be happy in a role" and I'm starting to think that it's actually true. Can you provide more color about it? I'd think that HR wouldn't figure out if someone is but the guys on the desk would? I've been applying to some trading roles at bulge bracket banks and a senior guy there once told me that they'd usually pass on a smart candidate because they know that working on that team would be boring for them and they won't be happy??

 

Did OP make this specific for HF SAs? Then culture fit issue is more likely what morgantire said rather than being a "bit introverted." Plenty of bit introverted people in HFs who are successful, not so much in IB which is where the top rated commenter is coming from. 

 

Well for the places I have been, if they say stuff like "you are hardworking etc. (list some other general traits)", sometimes it's really not a skill issue or they don't like you - they genuinely just have no headcount/team open to taking in juniors. Even for a MMHF I have seen such things before - friend of mine got hit with that despite good feedback and the analyst/PM actually liking them. ^ Much more frequent in an Asian context.

(That said, "sometimes" because there are times where you really are just not that good enough).

 

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