I have an FT offer for an associate at a BB S&T. I will be doing lunch with my future boss (who I did not meet during the hiring process). I am planning to : Read up on business/political news so it keeps the conversation going chat up a bit on the NYC move (from mid-west) ask the recruiter about the dress code What other topics are kosher/taboo ? How else should I prepare ? I am new to finance/wall street Thanks

Try to get them to like you, be honest, be sincere, be interested Try to get them to talk about themselves, and feed this: you want them to work you into their way of thinking, which includes employment Build on any commmon ground Be casual and natural, but remember at all times that you are dealing with someone farther up the food chain than you, and show the due deference Do NOT kiss their ass. It gets joked about all the time, but if you act like a fool they will walk away. DO NOT TRY TO IMPRESS THEM with your knowledge.

Jul 25, 2011

Lunch with my future boss. What is ok, what is not ?

I have an FT offer for an associate at a BB S&T. I will be doing lunch with my future boss (who I did not meet during the hiring process). I am planning to :

Read up on business/political news so it keeps the conversation going
chat up a bit on the NYC move (from mid-west)
ask the recruiter about the dress code

What other topics are kosher/taboo ? How else should I prepare ? I am new to finance/wall street

Thanks

8 Comments

UFOinsider

14y

Best Response

Try to get them to like you, be honest, be sincere, be interested
Try to get them to talk about themselves, and feed this: you want them to work you into their way of thinking, which includes employment
Build on any commmon ground
Be casual and natural, but remember at all times that you are dealing with someone farther up the food chain than you, and show the due deference
Do NOT kiss their ass. It gets joked about all the time, but if you act like a fool they will walk away.
DO NOT TRY TO IMPRESS THEM with your knowledge. Even if you know more, they see you as a noob.
Do your best to give the general impression that you are smart and hardworking and would be able to do the job
Repeat of #1 - get them to like you. This is the most important thing at this point.
Do your homework. If you're lucky, the conversation will just flow naturally: this is a good sign. If it doesn't, stick to formalities and stick to the questions you've prepared. You have two objectives. A) Build a relationship - it's on you. They have what you want, and you have to earn it. B) Guide the conversation so that they are coaching you on employment and making suggestions. Giving them the impression that you would be able to do these things may cause them to take an interest in you.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T LIE

Good luck

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Get busy living

nontarget

14y

Yeah, what above said.

Making him talk about himself and learning from his experience is your best bet. Study his personality, and thought process and go from there.

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Sole Proprietorship vs LLC

analyst_808

14y

how to win friends and influence people....dale carnegie.

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miltonfriedman

14y

Thanks. That was super stuff.

Actually its with 2 people - my boss and his boss ( more like my on-paper boss and the de facto boss ) - that complicates things a bit in terms of who I let talk about himself I guess.

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UFOinsider

14y

Ah, I misread - "future boss' as in you already got the job. This was for 'prospective boss' so, never mind. Just show up and be cool, you'll be fine.

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Get busy living

she_monkey

14y

whoa whoa recruiting is done.. please chill out

just keep it casual and get the guy to talk about himself, how he got there, which other product he was in before this if you spend the entire meal trying to impress him you'll come across as nervous ... but again, you already know your boss (so i'm guess you dont need to kiss ass for a group placement in the near future)... there's no need to treat it like an interview.

i especially disagree with the following:

5. Do NOT kiss their ass. It gets joked about all the time, but if you act like a fool they will walk away. 6. DO NOT TRY TO IMPRESS THEM with your knowledge. Even if you know more, they see you as a noob. 7. Do your best to give the general impression that you are smart and hardworking and would be able to do the job

5&6: they already hired you; nobody will 'walk away' here.

all new people are noobs, we already know that. at this stage -- showing you have some knowledge shouldnt hurt. it will give him some reassurance that he wont need to train you from scratch.

7: again, this isnt an interview anymore. whether you "appear" smart of hardworking in the first few encounters doesnt matter; you'll prove that in your first 3 months.

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Learn Financial Modeling Interview Guides WSO Resume Review

Status_Quo

14y

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http://ayainsight.co/ Curating the best advice and making it actionable.

manbearpig

14y

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Lunch with my future boss. What is ok, what is not ?

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