Interviewing one of the directors of one of the BB banks for magazine - need your opinions
So I'm interviewing someone on the board of directors of one of the BB banks next week for a school magazine. Here are some of the questions I thought of:
You have been with ____ for about ___ years now, what made you stay for so long when finance is usually a field with such high turnover?
What is it like being on the board of directors of one of the most important financial institutions in the world?
Before you started working for _____, you were a naval aviator. Can you tell us a little about that experience and whether it helped shape your career in finance?
All of the major banks have taken a significant blow in the past six months. MS and BAC are down over 50% since April, GS and JPM are down 35-40%. Can you shed some light on why banks are doing so poorly this year?
(5. Do you think this trend is going to reverse in the near future? How do you forsee the banks doing a year from now and 10 years from now?)
Many of our readers are students who want to break into Wall Street. Do you have any opinions on job prospects in the near future?
Do you have any general advice for aspiring investment bankers such as myself?
I've never done this type of thing before, so I'm not even sure how many questions to prepare. It's supposed to be a 20 minute interview.
Remove "such as myself" from the last question...simply tool.
Are they a director? or "On the board of directors" at a BB. Director is a position title below MD. Being on the board of directors means something incredibly different. I would be amazed/have a hard time believing that someone on the board of directors would take the time to speak with you.
Most banks have 14 members on the board of directors (one of them being the ceo) at most banks. Many of them are former CEOs of BBs/equivalently sized companies. If one of these people is taking the time to speak with you, this is a huge fucking deal.
If it's just a director, you'll sound retarded if you ask question #2.
In terms of question #4, have you seen the market recently? Do the words Greece and Europe mean anything to you? How the hell do you not know the answer to this? In terms of question #5, 10 years from now? Are you fucking serious? Depending on which bank, they might not even be around 10 years from now. For Question #6, next few years would be more appropriate. You should already know the answer to the near future.
Also, no one can predict the future. Don't ask them to try. More general questions such as what changes do you see happening/what direction are you looking to go in are probably better.
You really need a finance teacher to help you write these questions. It's clear you aren't capable of doing it on your own.
Yes, I know the answer to question #4, but I doubt even 20% of my school's student body knows the answer. This is going to be for the general student body, not just the finance/econ majors. Do you still think it's bad to ask?
Thanks for your feedback about 10 years from now and predicting the future, but I feel like sometimes they have strong opinions about the future. I will definitely change it to "next few years" and ask about general direction instead - thanks so much!
He's on the board of directors. Usually when you're referring to someone on the board of directors, they can be referred to as a director. (Yes, I know "Director" is the level below MD lol, I worked in banking dude)
See this for reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_directors#Directors
Yes, he's a big deal.
Here are the updated questions
All of the major banks have taken a significant blow in the past six months because of the situation in Greece and Europe. MS and BAC are down over 50% since April, GS and JPM are down 35-40%. What is your opinion on what needs to happen both in Europe and domestically for the banks to start recovering?
What changes do you see happening right now on Wall Street and what direction do you think the major banks are headed toward?
Many of our readers are students who want to break into Wall Street. Do you have any opinions on job prospects in the next few years?
Do you have any general advice for aspiring investment bankers?
Sorry for the asshole post. I just assumed (apparently incorrectly) that there was no way you'd be able to get someone from the board of directors to speak with you. I'm incredibly jealous.
I'd probably ignore my above post. Personally, I like your most recent set of questions better, but with someone that high up, who knows. I would be terrified the whole time I spoke with them and really have no idea what to ask.
I'm assuming you go to a target school where the general knowledge would be a bit higher? If so, I'd expect even those not at all interested in finance to have some idea about what's going on in the market.
I'm sure you're doing this already but have a professor go over the questions beforehand. They'll know better than most people here.
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