I Interviewed the Interviewer?

I just had a phone interview today from an Associate at BAML and he really only asked me about 5 questions and then for another 15 minutes I basically led the interview, asking him questions and he would leave awkward silences if I didn't bring up something to talk about. Then at the end he asked if they had to deal with other banks that I was dealing with as well. It seemed really weird because it was not like any other interviews I've had in the fact that I've never led the interview before.

Is this good or bad?

16 Comments
 

As long as you "sold:" yourself...you should be fine...in other words, clearly communicate your strengths and make the connection between prior accomplishments and potential contributions...

 
Best Response
berkeleyguy12I just had a phone interview today from an Associate at BAML and he really only asked me about 5 questions and then for another 15 minutes I basically led the interview, asking him questions and he would leave awkward silences if I didn't bring up something to talk about. Then at the end he asked if they had to deal with other banks that I was dealing with as well. It seemed really weird because it was not like any other interviews I've had in the fact that I've never led the interview before.

Is this good or bad?

Strange, I had a similar experience with BAML where after answering questions (completely) there was an awkward silence as if I was supposed lead a full on conversation.

"One should recognize reality even when one doesn't like it, indeed, especially when one doesn't like it." - Charlie Munger
 
cplpayne
berkeleyguy12I just had a phone interview today from an Associate at BAML and he really only asked me about 5 questions and then for another 15 minutes I basically led the interview, asking him questions and he would leave awkward silences if I didn't bring up something to talk about. Then at the end he asked if they had to deal with other banks that I was dealing with as well. It seemed really weird because it was not like any other interviews I've had in the fact that I've never led the interview before.

For this year's SA recruiting process? Or do you know what happened with it already?

Is this good or bad?

Strange, I had a similar experience with BAML where after answering questions (completely) there was an awkward silence as if I was supposed lead a full on conversation.

For this years recruiting process or do you already know what happened?

 
berkeleyguy12
cplpayne
berkeleyguy12I just had a phone interview today from an Associate at BAML and he really only asked me about 5 questions and then for another 15 minutes I basically led the interview, asking him questions and he would leave awkward silences if I didn't bring up something to talk about. Then at the end he asked if they had to deal with other banks that I was dealing with as well. It seemed really weird because it was not like any other interviews I've had in the fact that I've never led the interview before.

For this year's SA recruiting process? Or do you know what happened with it already?

Is this good or bad?

Strange, I had a similar experience with BAML where after answering questions (completely) there was an awkward silence as if I was supposed lead a full on conversation.

For this years recruiting process or do you already know what happened?

It was yesterday, said I'd hear back early next week

"One should recognize reality even when one doesn't like it, indeed, especially when one doesn't like it." - Charlie Munger
 

Ha, I always tried doing this in interviews whenever I could; basically just ask as many questions as I can so I could show my "interest" and not have to answer questions myself. I even had one guy at a superday tell me (somewhat jokingly) "Hey, I'm supposed to be the one interviewing you here!" I got an offer at that firm though, and did pretty well in interviews overall, so I guess the strategy worked. I think interviews tend go better when you try to just treat them as conversations instead of a formal interview. Of course, the worst thing you could do is try to force the issue though. If the interviewer just wants to go through a list of questions and have no interaction whatsoever, just go with it and do the best you can.... figuring out what type of interviewer you have is very important.

 

Impressions (and for that matter decisions) are typically made in the initial 60+or- seconds of the interview...

 

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