What Does Alternate Mean for On Campus Recruiting?
There are three categories: Accepted, Alternate, or Rejected.
From my understanding, Alternate signs up for interviews at a later date. Are there any disadvantages to this, besides picking out an ideal interviewing time?
job application what does it mean to be alternate?
Being an alternate for on campus interviews means that you are effectively on the wait list to get an interview if someone on the main list for an interview drops out. You should be on the look-out for a notification that a spot opened up or you should be continually checking the sign-up system - depending on how your school schedules interviews. Our users shared their experiences below.
alexpasch - Corporate Strategy DirectorYou have to be at your computer as soon as the alternate sign-up opens. There's usually like 10 alternates and like 1 or 2 spots, so have your hair trigger clicking finger ready.
ALC8It means you weren't chosen for the interview, but rather if someone drops out, you get the opportunity to interview.
Read More About OCR on WSO
- How many interviews? (First round on-campus)
- Chosen as an Alternate for First round on campus interview but all interview spots taken
- On Campus Recruiting -- The Reality at Targets
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You have to be at your computer as soon as the alternate sign-up opens. There's usually like 10 alternates and like 1 or 2 spots, so have your hair trigger clicking finger ready lol.
And I'm not kidding, ctrl R like every 2 seconds or you're toast.
I think if you're an alternate you only get a spot if someone who was selected doesn't take theirs.
i.e. there are 13 spots, but only 12 sign up. Whenever the alternate signup starts, the first person to sign up for that last slot will get an interview
anybody else can share?
That's how it worked at my school as well.
So from your experiences, the chances of getting into these "alternate" spots are fairly slim?
It means you weren't chosen for the interview, but rather if someone drops out, you get the opportunity to interview. This happened to me with JPMorgan & Chase. I never got a spot though because everyone wants to interview with them.
Has anyone gone from an being an alternate for the first round to actually landing the offer?
I'm curious if the interviewers know you are a back-up candidate and not their first choice and if they treat you differently than other candidates?
Above is correct - I'm involved in target OCR for my group, and we're typically told 'we have 10 interview slots, so pick the top 10 and then 2-3 alternates' - the alternates are in case one of the chosen 10 doesn't show up for some reason.
I would say that if you're an alternate an actually get an interview, you have approximately the same chance as anyone else to get to the superday.
i wasn't alternate but already all the slots have been filled. why?
I'd say if your an alternate and get the opportunity to interview its a great chance to show those who chose resumes how wrong they can be :)
I don't know if it's totally on topic here but now going through the OCR process I've realized how random it is in terms of the selection process -- on this site constantly people rank banks and what not and the level of difficulty it is to get into IBD say at one place vs another -- and if all of that was true, my OCR interview process would have turned out sooo different. Long story short --- hustle, network, and I don't care what GPA/School you go to -- if someone likes someone else more than you, their probably going to get the opportunity to interview over you despite your credentials.
Goodluck!
One of my interviews came from being an alternate. I actually thought I killed the interview and then didn't get a CB. Not sure if that had something to do with it or I overestimated how well I did.
How long has it been since the interview? I've had first rounds and heard back as soon as 2 days and a as long as a week and a half (both call backs were positive interestingly).
Have you reached out to them?
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