Middle Market Associate Interview

Hi Folks,

I was contacted by a great recruiter who I had worked with last year to fill a middle market banker associate position. The bank that is one of the top 3 banks in the world, and this position is in my market where the bank is having problems moving current employees. The job was posted internally, and has yet to be posted externally, but as I said, the recruiter and I had worked together previously, and he knows I want to work in this position.

During the interview the VP of the department told me that I would be a great fit for the position, but usually they fill this position with their own employees who have worked their way up through the banks analyst program, and I haven't gone through that program (I would be pivoting from investment banking to middle market banking). The one thing that I believe helps me is that from my investment banking days I have made a lot of contacts with C Suite executives at some of the companies that the bank services.

I have a follow up interview with the hiring manager this Thursday, and I wanted to ask the group, have you ever been an external candidate interviewing for a job where you didn't take the traditional route? Being an outside puts me behind the 8 ball, but I am sure that there is some way to show them that I will do great with the bank even though I haven't gone through the program.

Thanks for any advice.