I had a second round interview yesterday for a lateral position with a non-BB for a position in their LevFin group. I met with five different people (2 VPs, 1 Assoc, & 2 Analysts). Four of the interviews went extremely well and allowed me to really connect with the interviewers. There isn't a thing I would change or have said differently in those interviews. Then I met with "that guy".
"That guy" was an analyst who had the proverbial "stick up his ass" problem. He was impossible to connect with much less carry on a simple casual conversation with him. I can talk to almost anybody about anything, but this guy was a brick wall.
I'm just wondering, for those of you on the other side of the interview table, how much pull do the analysts have in hiring someone? Obviously they wouldn't be in the room if their input wasn't valued.
Don't worry about it. You need several junior guys to corroborate a story to not get hired.
Piss off a veep or MD though... you're toast.
Besides, the analyst may not have necessarily hated you. You never know. Hard to read too much into it. You gave it your best, time to wait and hope for the best.
Yeah, I echo what venturecapitalista said... Generally the team will look for consensus among junior guys, but their opinion is not heavily factored into the decision. Odds are, the kid (like most analysts) probably doesn't have a great deal of experience interviewing people and was distracted by other deadlines/projects. I don't think you should sweat it too much.
There is also the possibility that the analyst was instructed to play bad cop and act like a dbag. Also, if the kid is as terrible as you described I am sure that his team probably doesnt like him either or value his opinion that highly. You should be fine.
They have some. Some folks will come into an interview negatively resistant. Not sure how true it is in IBD, but in trading and the quant world, some folks will also come into an interview just to F### with you.
My hunch is that he's probably annoyed that some kid he played lacrosse with in college got rejected and now he has to interview you. As an analyst, he probably can't veto you outright if a bunch of guys with more clout liked you. There's going to be a discussion and questions like, "Regardless of whether you liked the guy, can he make us money?" are going to come up. If he can't offer cogent and well-reasoned answers, you're either in the "Yes" pile or at least the top of the "Maybes".
Edit: In this kind of a job market, employers have the luxury of waiting for a consensus or at least a near-consensus on hiring decisions. So while I agree with the other posters that the analyst doesn't have anywhere near as much clout as the VPs or MDs who interviewed you, he can still veto you if he provides a very well-reasoned argument that a higher ranking guy buys into. I'm not sure he can, but there's always that risk.
Yeah don't get hung up on this one. You'll come across this kind of sh*t once in a while...
Thanks for the feedback guys. It's just annoying to go through the entire process and interview with a dozen people and potentially have one person foul everything up for you. That's life and the world we live in.
I agree with what everyone else has said previously.
If you went through four interviews with different people and were able to establish a connection with them than it is much more likely that this guy is just a stick in the mud or was simply having a bad day/had other things on his mind.
Or he possibly had pulled for someone else who you ended up getting the interview over. There are way too many possibilities for you to simply zero in on thinking that he did not like you.
On many occasions I've been instructed to go in and purposely be a dick to the interviewee. I do feel sorry for the kid sometimes because you really make him feel like shit for no real reason. I do think there is a benefit though, you get to see how they think and react in an awkward pressured situation, it gives you a read you wouldn't normally be able to see.
I definitely wouldn't stress.
1- Like everyone said he was an analyst, not a VP or MD 2 - if he was as much of a tool as you say he probably didn't get along with anyone. If that's the case he'll probably have the same crap response to all applicants.
Also, you don't know that the guy didnt like you. It's possible that he's just tough to get along with and you may have handled him better than the other interviewers. I had a VP (non-IB) who was really tough on me and I sometimes hated working with. Come review time this guy gave me a glowing review for dealing with difficult situations. He is now a decent friend of mine.
From an employer's perspective, I don't think pressure interviews are a usefull indicator anymore. We do something similar (rapid fire group interviews, not the "good cop v. bad cop" routine). From our experience, we find that the best candidates have experience with and expect presure interviews. So what's the point nowadays? Anyone good enough to get to that point in the interview process has read a Vault guide.
I tried bringing up this issue with my group, but the saidstic 55-yr old director of our team insists otherwise. Maybe its one of those outdated and useless formalities (like MBA for career progression) that just wont die.
OP: I wouldnt worry if I were you. Its just an interview.
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