Frustrating Question
Dinged today because my answer for interest in being in the space did not suffice. I think this a pretty ridiculous question to begin with and even more ridiculous to scrap someone because of it, especially if the answer isn’t egregious or anything. Are you testing for persuasion skills or actual interest? I’m certain 9 times out of 10 the interviewer is looking for the answer to align with his or her exact same view, so pretty strong bias there too.
Someone who claims to be extremely interested in PE is very likely flubbing it, as we all know how standard the path has become, but I guess the question is designed to weed those people out. But I find it very hard to believe that the vast majority of kids truly know they want PE. How could they? They haven’t worked there a single day. It ends up being in exercise in spinning the best story, as seems to be the case with a lot of interview questions.
Doesn't seem like that ridiculous a question to ask someone why they're interested in doing a certain job... There's enough publicly available info on PE to get a sense for your interest level in the role even if you don't know all the in the weeds details.
That said, agree that behavioral interviews are primarily biased to "do I like and want to work with this person?" in the interviewers mind which leads to a lot of bullshitting to seem likeable by candidates. Maybe they just don't want to work with someone who's interests aren't aligned with them (rightly or wrongly). Would you mind sharing the answer you gave? Curious what you said that got you dinged.
Part of the game to think of a good answer to this. Anyone can memorize/drill technicals. And yes, interest does correlate with performance on the job.
“Part of the game” is the kind of thinking I’m talking about. Thought the goal was to figure out who the best candidate for the job was (recognizing that willingness and desire to stay on because of passion in the space is part of that
So you view it as the persuasion argument. I think there are better ways to sus this out. This question obviously was a significant one for the firm, which leads me to believe it took on the form of well I don’t think this person is interested enough, versus what are their persuasion skills, which from rest of interview were totally fine.
Agree with first commenter second paragraph too though. With regards to first paragraph, I agree that someone should do their best to find the information out there and make an educated guess based on what they know about themselves. Obviously that type of task has a lot of room for mistakes.
Can’t remember the exact answer unfortunately, but it wasn’t all that bad or anything. Just wasn’t super compelling. I think something about being interested in transactional aspect and digging into specific situations. They might’ve wanted an answer that better aligned with their investment approach (again this would almost certainly be an inherently bullshit answer) Pretty adequate answer IMO but am obviously biased.
[redacted then] Point taken ahah
Good answers, but the fact that people will take those and recite them and have better success with that question I think furthers my point
I highly doubt your actual answer to this seemingly innocuous question got you dinged. Much more likely they didn’t like your demeanor or personality, or that they liked other candidates more than you. Interviewing is like dating, sometimes I have just gotten a bad vibe from a kid and dinged him even though he did nothing overtly wrong.
Yep could be it too. Love when decisions are made on vibes, but what’re you gonna do
The truth is a lot of candidates ultimately blend together because they have similar backgrounds and everyone has practiced the models and technical aspects. No interviewer can perfectly know which candidates will be the best so naturally they look for likability, fit, vibe, etc. provided they meet the other requirements. This is not unique to PE. As others have pointed out, I highly doubt your answer to why PE is the main reason you got dinged, unless you said something that indicated you had no idea what PE is. Be likable and give commonly accepted answers to these fit questions, and you’ll be okay. Just play the game.
Agree with what everyone above has said and also want to note that at the junior role in PE is a lot more about charisma and relationship building than in PE. Don’t get me wrong, the bulk of your job will be working as an Excel/PowerPoint monkey but you’ll be interacting with bankers, management teams, board members, service providers, etc. frequently as well. Your ability to sound engaging when answering an inane question actually says a lot about how you’ll do in these situations.
Is that the best way to assess candidates? I doubt it. Unsurprising that people who work in the industry defend it
Maxime sunt molestiae nulla quo sunt repellat. Ut perferendis nostrum sit reprehenderit voluptatum voluptatem.
Et velit consectetur quia temporibus dolorum sit repellendus. Et dolor accusantium quaerat recusandae asperiores. Quas aut porro exercitationem voluptatibus facere fugiat.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...