Rejected despite stellar phone interview

A few weeks ago, I had a phone interview with a BB in London for an off-cycle internship.

It went really well, with my interviewer saying "you really know your technicals" multiple times. Towards the end, when I answered a brainteaser, he said "I have interviewed 20 people before you and you are the only one who used the logic I wanted. Very well done, HR will be in touch with next steps."

Yet I got my rejection email yesterday afternoon, and they don't provide feedback after phone interviews. Anyone know what transpired?

20 Comments
 

Solid advice. Do you think it's worth emailing HR and asking to double check, saying the interview went very well?

 

I once got an auto reject from workday for a role and was really sad after a 1 hour interview with a associate and VP. After two weeks I got an email stating I'd been invited to the final round interview. I would double check with HR just to be 100% sure; for me if my vibes are high after an interview it's 99% a good sign.

 
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Dude a million things could have happened. They felt they didn’t really need an intern. Maybe an even better candidate interviewed. Maybe the interviewer was lying and just wanted to make you feel good.

Getting a job is a total crap shoot. Out of undergrad I got rejected from BNP and DB, but got offers from JPM, MS and Lehman.

I’ve had great interviews and been ghosted and I’ve bombed interviews and somehow gotten an offer. If you start obsessing over this you’re gonna drive yourself crazy.

Send an email to the interviewer thanking him for his time, express disappointment at not advancing to the next stage and let him know if an other opportunity comes up you would love to be considered.

Nothing else you can do.

 

This is not true (unless your bank operates very differently than all firms I’ve been a part of). HR has little/no say in the decision (at my current firm, essentially no say). The hiring manager (so generally the MD or group head) makes the decision, and they are presented the case by the people who did the interviewers and HR. Ultimately, we get to decide, if I want someone on my team and I have the budget, I am hiring them, end of story. 

 

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