I'm a junior at a target with top stats. I interviewed with a number of bulge bracket firms for IBD SA positions but I screwed up my interviews. For my junior summer, I'm working at a no-name boutique in NYC doing IB.
In the fall, how do I explain this situation in my FT interviews? What do I say when they ask why I chose my current position and why I didn't intern at a BB?
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"Closer to the deals"
This. When you are asked why you chose your internship you first have to say that you had other options. This doesn't have to be other offers but vaguely saying that YOU was the one choosing where to go is very important. Secondly you say why you chose the bank you did (Closer to the deals sounds like the best one so far) and finish with relating your experience to the position you are applying already. Say in a BB interview you would say how you loved being the only analyst on a deal but you would enjoy the same kind of responsibility at your bank because deals are more complex and there is enough work to go around everyone.
There is one right answer and one answer only - be honest and tell the truth. Don't cave into insecurity or desperateness and try to make anything up as this will only backfire in the worst possible way. Don't deflect the question either because bankers aren't idiots and can infer what happened (while also seeing as you being sneaky).
Be a man (or a strong individual with character, if you are a woman) and show strength. Admit what happened and try to spin it in a positive way. For example, you can say that the ordeal only affirmed your interest in banking and you are more committed than ever... Although you didn't attain your ideal internship, you learned a lot from adversity and it was a major / positive life lesson...
In my mind, the same ideal should resonate in all aspects of the interview. Have integrity and admit to not knowing the answer if you don't. Saying "I don't know" doesn't signal weakness - in fact, it is one of the strongest things a man can say (indicating both maturity and confidence).
Don't lie.
^ That's a damn good answer. +1
After you answer, "I just wanted to be closer to deals," he's going to ask if you tried applying to the elites and BBs. You will say yes, they he's going to come to the conclusion that somehow you weren't good enough and can't admit it. Just follow Vancouver Canucks' advice.
If everyone told the full truth in their interviews, then 90% of people would tell the interviewers that they're in it for the money, prestige and the exit ops and that they're going to stop working hard one year into their analyst program once they secure a PE job. Half of these people would tell them that the reason they are trying to do IB is because they envision themselves saying "I'm an investment banker" in a trendy club, buying $500 bottles of alcohol and having sex with random gold diggers. They're doing it because they have chased prestige their whole lives and now they're chasing the next prestigious thing.
If everyone was completely honest in interviews, they wouldn't spin yarns about the intellectual, quantitative challenge, the team environment, project based work, and whatnot (even though these things are important, nobody would be doing IB if it wasn't prestigious and lucrative). They wouldn't say to every single bank "you are one of my top choices and the reason is because of your culture, blah blah blah." It's an act. It's straight up bullshit for 99% of interviewees. I don't think it makes sense to take the moral high ground here with respect to "lying" and, sadly, I certainly don't think that those who do end up being rewarded.
I don't believe that lying is right but, in an interview setting, you are at a huge disadvantage if you can't credibly bend the truth. For example, when they ask those behavioral questions, everyone I know simply made up a story about a time when they showed leadership or resolved a conflict or whatever. If they didn't make up the story, then they bent the truth as to how much they personally impacted the outcome. I know people at almost every bulge bracket who made up fake stories to answer behavioral questions with.
Obviously, if they can see right through you, then you're screwed. The point of my question is that I'm trying to formulate the best possible (credible) response to the inevitable line of questioning about my background. I don't want to lie but I want to know the best possible way to spin it. I agree that "closer to the deals" will be seen as bullshit. I was just wondering if there is any way I can answer the question without seeming like a failure. Right now, the truth is "I should have prepared more, I was awkward and I wasn't confident." Something tells me that that isn't going to play well in interviews.
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