Interviewing for a year with no offers
Currently an associate in the asset management arm of a BB (JP/GS/MS). Been with the same team since internship and graduation, I like my coworkers but generally feeling like my growth has been stagnating and wanted to work on something more exciting and with more room for growth, so started casually looking around February 2024. Started interviewing more seriously and frequently around October into January with a break during Christmas, and now it’s been a year. I’ve interviewed with other asset managers, hedge funds, smaller advisory firms, start ups, VC, and family offices, and talked to a bunch of recruiters. Tried to cast a wide net with anything that would have been relevant and more junior focused (3-5YOE in listing) and across both investment and non investment roles like IR/BD as well. I would estimate I’ve gotten between 40-50 first rounds and ~5-10 final rounds and I have yet to receive a single offer. Probably have sent 400-500 applications. Most of the feedback I received was positive, with the teams saying they liked my background and I presented well, but they went with someone with more experience, either older or more specific to the industry, such as someone directly from healthcare for a healthcare startup for example. I know its rough out there, the economy is bad and hiring is low, etc, but I’m also seeing colleagues around me jump with little issue or friction. Is the BB brand not helping here, could I be coming off as too corporate for a smaller firm? Or do I just suck at interviewing and the recruiters are giving the standard polite response? What am I missing? Would appreciate any advice or insight.
What exactly are you doing in AM. Admittedly the job market is not as hot as previous years and you’ll have a lot of competition for limited roles but getting 40-50 first rounds and not being able to convert is concerning. Have you had friends mock interview you? Are you crafting your story properly? Unfortunately, a lot of recruiters would say those generic things to be polite. It feels kinda standard.
It’s the outsourced CIO team so managing institutional clients portfolios. My guess would be the issue is I could be not selling my enthusiasm for the role enough, as a lot of these positions are relatively new to me (not a ton of overlap with my current) so I try to highlight the relevant parts and say i enjoy working in those and want to expand. Haven’t had any issues/flags (that I know of) on behaviorals and most tended to lean more behaviorals. Definitely got dinged on some case interviews for more consulting type roles
I hear you. I would think part of it is the selling. Why are you looking to transition from outsourced CIO XYZ. Why are you looking to leave? Etc. I think you should craft your story more. I say that because I’ve been through interviews all the way to the final round…and I get dinged for “fit” which is crazy cuz I went through 5 rounds prior. It just takes one interviewer at the company to not buy your story or say you lack enthusiasm and reject you. Sometimes if you get interviews from HH, ask for 15 min of their time and have them help you craft your story.
How are you getting the feedback? Do you have a connect / insider in the bank or is this through HR?
I'm in the same boat - I was laid off a year ago and have sent in 1K+ applications, casting a really wide net across every team (DCM / ECM, coverage, product) and pretty much every position available on the market. Completed ~100 first round interviews, ~10 final rounds and ultimately landed one offer at the end.
Most of the time, the team went with another candidate with more years of experience or direct experience (I was in a very niche group previously). Perhaps your background could be too niche if you're applying for roles outside of that?
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