Equity Research Associate Interview - How Screwed Am I?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how screwed am I for this inty?

28 days ago I applied to a couple positions (IB with a specific group and ER with a specific group) at one bank under their capital markets arm. I get a call Thursday saying that the capital markets arm would like to have me in for an interview on Monday. I was not told whether it was for IB or ER on the phone, but the guy who called me from the bank said he would send an email confirming everything so no sweat, right? The email will surely state what the position is! Well, he ends up not emailing me on Thursday, so I call him back - no answer. I end up getting through to him on Friday around 3pm and get an email shortly after our conversation basically saying that I have the interview at the company on Monday with the capital markets arm and that I should ask for [Person X]. After some Googling it turns out that Person X is an ER Analyst, so obviously the interview is for ER in a specific industry.

The only problem is I basically have 2.5 days to prep for an ER interview in an industry I know fucking absolutely nothing about. I just finished my undergrad, if it makes a difference, but I'm worried I'm going to have to know a boat load about an industry I've had a couple DAYS to read about. I know enough to have an industry-specific stock pitch ready, but really how much am I expected to know? I would have no problem if I was given at least 5 days to a week's worth of notice but to basically find out that I'm interviewing for a position and have less than 3 days to prepare is ridiculous, in my opinion. It's not even like I had an HR screen or anything that would give an indication that I would actually land this interview. I find out I'm getting the inty and it's with the hiring Analyst. And to top it all off the industry isn't something like consumer discretionary that I can walk into with a couple hours worth of reading.

Am I going to get grilled with industry specific technicals? Am I going to have to answer 5 - 10 minutes of follow up questions on a stock pitch I'm basically pulling out of my ass? Am I going to have to comment on industry trends in a highly specialized industry that I'm just reading out for the first time basically ever?

I am so screwed m8s

2 Comments
 

You are going to be fine, I prepped for my first ER interview with just 2 days.

What I did: 1. Be able to pitch a stock that is congruent with the bank. I applied for Bairds and looked for a company between 1-4 B in market cap.

  1. Make sure you understand the fit questions, this is pretty essential and most firms place a huge emphasis on this

  2. Show your passion.

  3. Craft a story for what lead to your interest in ER

 

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