No Second Rounds??

I am a junior applying for a summer analyst position at all the major Banks. I've gotten first rounds with nearly everyone, but so far have not gotten ANY second rounds! (I am from a target Ivy with a good GPA and great extracurriculars) I've been through 5 interviews so far, and only have 2 more to go. When I called the interviewers to ask for feedback, they all had the same thing to say -- nothing wrong with me personally, the interview went well, the process was just really competitive and I was "just edged out". Am I just a really bad interviewer? What could be keeping me from getting to the second round? I've done all of my homework, studied the vault guides, etc. Any advice??

16 Comments
 

3.5, target ivy.

Nationally recognized in many of my extracurriculars, member of student council, president of a club sports team.

 

At my best interview I cracked a joke that had the two interviewers laughing for like 2 mins. Test the mood, and try to be unique and memorable. Hopefully this helps. One of my friend went through a similar experience and I felt very bad.

 

I second the mock interview. Does your career services office do those? You might be doing something odd that you don't know about, and a mock interview would help.

Having said that, I think the whole interview process is somewhat random, and it is going to depend on what your interviewers think about you. I got dinged at some second-tier firms and offers from firms with much better reputations...which suggests that there's a great deal of subjectivity.

 

The problem with a mock interview is that my remaining two interviews are on Friday and Monday, so it will be difficult to do one, especially before Friday. The career services office is all booked up for the next couple weeks, looks like everyone else got there ahead of me.

 

some people just get hit with bad luck

I know at least a few highly qualified people who ended up striking out everywhere.

 

It's been suggested to me that i'm not really making myself stand out in the interviews at all -- aside from prior work experience, good gpa, and extracurriculars, I'm not sure how I can do this. Any ideas on how I could better make myself stand out or more memorable? Thanks.

 

When you are going into interviews, remember that they will pick one out of fifteen people. Remember that you won't get to the next round unless you differentiate yourself from the pack.

 

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