Best course of action?

Lets say you are having a quick informational interview with someone and the guy starts to rip into you. He starts talking about how you have no chance, should just give up and laughs at your back ground and tell you what a crap applicant you are...., what would you do?

 

That's a shitty situation but you'd have to take it in stride. Tell them that you know that it would be an uphill battle for you to break into banking but you would appreciate any advice on how you can become a more competitive candidate.

 

Not worry about it and move on. Most informational interviews don't lead to anything, and some people will be nice about it and others not so much. The best you're looking for is those few individuals that have something to offer you, and it's really a numbers game, so just keep your head up and hit up the next person in your list.

 
Best Response

did this actually happen or is this a hypothetical? if it actually happened, send the guy a short thank you email afterward and dont bother contacting him again. you wont be through with his bank, unless hes an MD or something, but most MDs are more polished than that to berate a candidate. assuming hes not super high up in the ranks, feel free to reach out to other ibd employees.

that said, if this is a hypothetical, dont worry about it. ive had well over 100 informational interviews over the phone and in person, and ive never come across anything like this. if it didnt go well, the person will simply cut it short to like 15 min instead of a normal half hr conversation. the person will also probably give curt answers without expounding on anything or offering any advice. if this doesnt happen, then you can assume the call was decent enough, and you should continue to follow up going forward, and if you have the guts, ask him to put you in touch with other team members to get a better understanding of the group's culture.

i would be very, very, very surprised if this actually happened in real life; i really hope this is a hypothetical question.

 
£IB£:

Something did happen which made it super awkward but it was not that bad. But it did got me thinking that there is a huge possibility of it happening.

Ok, what happened? Was the guy calling you out on a terrible gpa? Did he ask you why you should bother because there are many kids from harvard who cant even break in? These are simple questions, designed to test your patience and see how you react under pressure while uncomfortable. These don't count. If the guy straight up laughed and said that no one on the street would hire you because of your terrible gpa, instead of asking you why you think you'd make the cut, then that's crossing the line. That's an affirmative rather than inquisitive statement. I would never expect someone simply going off on me and telling me to not bother trying because I'm a piece of shit in whichever regard.

 

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