Interview Demeanor Advice
Hi all, for some context, I'm a sophomore currently recruiting for SA 2026 and I feel okay about how it's going so far with technicals/networking. However, as I get deeper into my behavioral prep I've been wondering about the "best" interview demeanor. Now don't get me wrong I know this isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. It will depend on who's across the table but in general is it better to try to be more poised and maybe smile less to come off "more professional" or would it be better to be more conversational and smile(obviously still professional)?
I know this might seem like a silly question, but with how important behaviorals are and how competitive it is, I want to make sure I'm approaching everything correctly.
Very good question - bumping this thread. My take:
I’ve had ~10 interviews this year for SA (UK) - have had some super stoic hardline interviewers and also some unstructured casual conversations as well.
After the first couple of interviews I realised I didn’t feel very natural so really started thinking too much about this “demeanour” thing which ended up being counterintuitive. I think after all of my interviews the key thing that worked was showing that you are intelligent/clever while also being in a positive kind of mood (but still relatively centred/stoic). Sounds cringe to even type but that’s just my view.
As examples - one of my EB interviews was for a team that stressed “culture fit” so in a way I was trying to be too conversational/casual to the point where I think I lost credibility in my answers.
On the other hand, i did another EB interview where for whatever reason I wasn’t really in that “positive mood” so my answers ended up sounding too robotic and rehearsed. The exact feedback I got was “lack of critical thinking” in the same email that said “very ambitious, strong technicals, intelligent” which is just another way of saying I was too robotic (I know this because there weren’t really any questions to think critically about - if you ask me about what trends there are in UK M&A then I will know that off by heart”.
Hope that helps.
Ahh so you would say be relatively stoic but also smile and show some enthusiasm. I think the main reason I asked this question was because of what you said. I didn't want to be no-smiles and just straight to the point because then you could be perceived as a hardo and I also didn't want to conversate and smile too much because then you might just not be taken seriously. Thanks for the advice.
In my opinion if you have to fake your personality for the interview….. are they really going to like you once you start working? Or you have to fake it every day for the rest of your life ?
How does this answer his questions whatsoever
Because it says to be yourself and not fake a personality lol. Your comprehension isn’t high
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