Wanted to get an updated thread on hardest interview/technical questions so i can gauge where my own technical knowledge is at and practice more (will recruit for 2022 SA). Some threads on this are quite old (like the most extensive thread is 2008?). Help us monkeys out with some tough q's!
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I just interviewed someone from Harvard with 4.0 GPA, previous internships at a top bank and a top MF. He was a varsity captain as well. Why should I hire you over him?
"Because I go to Wharton"
I hope you God you see yourself as more than the product of your academic and work achievements.
"See that wall over there? I'll run through it to make the firm money"
You may not measure up on the resume, but you have the work ethic to compensate.
Because I have the same stats but it's much harder to get a 4.0 at Princeton than at Harvard. I wish I could give this answer lol
If you're already in the interview and are not from a target school, this should be a super easy question. In fact, you should pray to be asked this question.
What vegetable are you?
are you an ass guy or a tits guy
That's not a hard question though
Yeah I have both. Covid did me dirty
Why DB?
Answers to the Harvard question: - 4.0 GPA and captain of the team means he has no social life or he never sleeps. I may have a 3.6, but I got to know my peers, sleep, and read XYZ novel about finance/banking.
-Harvard has a lot of students, I got to know my professors at my smaller school, I put three down as my references.
Harvard is expensive, I went to No Name University because being debt-free after undergraduate/graduate was way more important to me than getting a Name-Brand Degree. I think for the long term.
I worked my ass off all throughout high school to get the SAT and ACT, Harvard is notorious for buying your way in. I have the brains and social skills to come from nothing to Harvard. A lot better than daddy's money.
Of course, be more polished, but you get the idea.
Yeah the only problem is - what if the interviewer also went to Harvard
I always ask my interviewers where they went to college and how they joined the firm. If he went to Harvard, I think you can still be charming and say the same things. As a Harvard grad, he knows they are true.
Guys, guys, guys... your answer should not focus at all on that candidate or Harvard. You should be answering like a politician, don't you dare try to directly answer the question or literally compare yourself to this hypothetical candidate.
Just go back into your wheelhouse, "What you are getting when you hire me is A, B, and C. I had great conversations with people on this team while doing informational interviews and can see myself succeeding here over the long term. I'm humble, persistent and hardworking..." If you've already gone through strengths and weaknesses, you can throw in "I acknowledge that I have some room to grow and develop in some of the areas we have discussed but I am making great progress there and I am confident that I would make a positive addition to the team."
This is the same shit that banks have to do on bakeoffs when the client says "We just heard from Goldman. Why should we hire you [BAML]?" You don't really think the higher prestige option always wins out? Why? Because of specific fit to this situation, personal connections, social fit, or other reasons... same as in recruiting as in pitches. Talking directly about Harvard or Goldman would be giving them headspace and you want to completely gloss over it as if the interviewer didn't even mention it. If they really care about it, they will ask you again and more directly.
This question is purely to make you uncomfortable and see how confident you are in yourself.
If they really press you, and sometimes senior bankers get really cheeky ("No, really, the guy is in the waiting room. Why not the Harvard varsity captain?"). This is situational but if you have nothing to lose... throw a Hail Mary right back, "Brad? He's a great guy, we've gotten on well together at the Starbucks before we came in today. Hire us both, we each bring a very different and complementary life experience to the team, and I would look forward to working together with him"
What did you say as a weakness lol? If it wasn't incredibly retarded, that's extremely unprofessional of that associate and I would consider just walking out
"how is your father" ? - asked by MD
"who is your father?"
Got the question "Why do you want to work for HSBC?"
“Why do you look like that”
If you can make a couple of assumptions, then this is doable.
First point the telescope towards the center of Saturn, and record the amount of time it takes, A.
Then point it towards any observable edge of Saturn, and record the time it takes, B.
Given speed of light is constant S.
Let R be the radius you're solving for.
Imagine a triangle with sides of length BS, AS + R, R.
You know that your vision line to the edge of Saturn is perpendicular to the center of Saturn's core, so you have a right triangle. BS and R are the legs, AS + R is the hypotenuse. Solve for R.
(BS)^2 + R^2 = (AS)^2 + 2ASR + R^2 R = [(BS)^2 - (AS)^2] / (2AS)
This mans is really saying just stop light