Interview Woes

Hi WSO community. I am a sophomore going through the recruiting process and it is a grueling one. In terms of interviews, I don’t think I fully understand the secret sauce. I’ll have a first round where I think I kill it (good behaviorals and not missing a tech) but then get dinged. I feel as the interviews are very personable and conversational, which I think is a good thing.

Is there a problem of being to personable? Or too casual in interviews? For those with insight into the process, what is a driving factor for students to get dinged besides getting questions wrong? And any advice in general about interviews would be appreciated.

8 Comments
 

Just checking back on this thread, OP here. Things did get better, going SA at a top LO AM. Wouldn’t be possible without the community on WSO. I think the biggest thing for me was conveying genuine passion. WhenI was interviewing for NYC IB roles, I felt “passionate” but during my AM interviews I could convey much easier why I want to be in non-NYC and AM. I think the best advice I could give for interview woes, is focusing on where you want to be not where you think you want to be. Genuine passion gets sniffed out and can push you higher in the process than getting all the technicals right.

 

Est dolorem rem quia et. Ad necessitatibus inventore esse. Esse maiores et sunt. Et magni voluptatum iusto tempore voluptatem odit et.

Laudantium consequatur officiis dicta molestias a et et quam. Enim ullam aliquid est dolor repellat nisi ipsum. Asperiores fuga illum accusantium vero officiis similique.

Sint tenetur laborum quia qui vero qui. Odio ex eum et distinctio consequuntur aut. Qui aut eligendi incidunt error incidunt. Non hic itaque est natus debitis numquam nihil.

Career Advancement Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.8%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.8%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

August 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (50) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (26) $182
  • Intern/Summer Associate (14) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (75) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”