Answering this tricky interview question....help

Hi,

If one interned at a top boutique in M&A and worked one's ass off and did a good job but did not receive a full-time offer at the end (obviously one is somewhat subjective here), can anyone think of a good way to spin this in an interview scenario?

If one of the principal reasons was the team culture and that there may have been an individual who was very difficult to work with, obviously this would be a bit of a faux pas to mention in a future interview, cos you're supposed to be professional and try to work well with everyone, no matter what their personality is like / even if you don't get on well.

Can anyone recommend a succint and convincing response if I get asked this in future?

 
Best Response

Are they asking you whether you got an offer, or why you're still interviewing? Depending on how they ask, you should spin it appropriately:

-if they ask it in the latter way, spin it that your experience was fantastic and helped you decide you wanted a bank more like _____ (obviously the bank you're interviewing with).

I interned at a very small PE shop, and while I had an offer with them (so slightly different story, but same premise), I knew banking offered me a better springboard to start my career (plus I wasn't sure if PE was for me). So usually the question was "why didn't you stay with PE firm?", so in your case, you'd never have to bring up the fact that you didn't get an offer.

Hope that helps.

 

What worked for me was just saying that X Bank isn't really hiring this year due to reduced dealflow and the current environment. I usually leave it at that and most people understand. I've found its not like other years where you might want to try to hide it or even lie, this year people tend to recognize the situation.

 

Its fine to discuss how the culture didn't fit you but I would leave the part out about the individual that was difficult to work with. There are people like that everywhere, your going to have to deal with it. Don't lie, if they weren't hiring say so, if they didn't like you you better be able to spin it (culture fit, etc). The worst would be someone who knows someone at that firm and drops a call or email to inquire about you.

 

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