Does an unfriendly interviewer in final round say much about firm culture or whether you get an offer?
I interviewed with a mid market PE shop lately. I’ve met the entire team and they were very nice and professional. Even when my answers were challenged, it was more like a respectable “could you please tell me why you think otherwise?”
Then I met the MD, who was the last person to see me. I feel less certain about the firm. He was not rude or anything but I feel he was not very warm or friendly towards me. He questioned things on my CV and my previous interview performance in the process, which I defended and he accepted my answers. Then it turned into furious discussions about things with regards to my deal experience.
I was a little taken back by how defensive he was towards me given my interaction with rest of the team and the feedback I have received so far via my recruiter up until this last interaction. Tho I kept my cool and cracked a few smiles and remained cheerful which made him smile a little here and there. But the overall experience left me think he didn’t like me or he didn’t think I was good enough for the firm. I understand pressure interview is a thing but as an interviewee, I do want to gauge the firm culture from the interview process as much as I can.
How I can tell if an interviewer will be legitimately a nightmare to work with or they are just testing me and it’s part of the game? Does that say much about whether I’ll get an offer or not?
To clarify, I have met two other MDs in this firm so said MD is not the only decision maker
Sounds like it was either a pressure test interview like you mentioned or this particular MD might have a more abrasive attitude than the others (perhaps you caught him on a bad day). I wouldn’t read too much into it if you like everyone else on the team
I would not read too much into it with just one interviewer. He could’ve been having a bad day like the comment above says. I would take it as a red flag if multiple people on the team are like that.
The final interview with one of the MDs at the fund I’m at now felt like one of the worst and most negative I’ve ever done. Everything I said he had a negative spin on and felt like he was totally uninterested to be there, like he thought I was wasting his time. But we get on really well and have done since I started.
That’s crazy .. What made you accept that offer? I’d feel reluctant to join a firm where one of the MDs does not seem keen about me but extended offer to me regardless.
I have been in situation like this where two BBs extended offers to me but I went with one of them because I thought they seemed more keen about me. I actually know someone who worked with the interviewer at the other BB and he said that guy basically just looks like he doesn’t give a shit and he is the most terrible at trying to warm up to candidates and get them to pick the bank. I didn’t go with them cos I was worried about joining a team where I was not valued.
Yeah that’s a fair point about feeling valued. I think for me at that stage I had interviewed at a few BB banks and a few funds of different sizes and I found there was always one or two interviewers who were not as friendly as the rest. One MM fund I actually felt like all of the interviewers would be horrible to work with - one guy turned up late obviously hungover to fuck with red eyes and looked like shit and just didn’t engage. I didn’t bother even following up at that place. I went with this offer because the rest of the team were really nice, I liked the culture, good size fund, growing team and I assumed that the MD just had that interview style. I mitigated that by telling myself if he was a dick to work with, he is just one MD and is probably not the one I’d be working with often anyway (because of his geographic coverage). But thankfully that never turned out to be the case.
It’s kind of like the last boss. That being said had the same experience as you but the guy for what it’s worth was super friendly afterward. Really just a pressure test which I think is fair with the number of hours
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