Equity Research Interview
I have a first round interview for an equity research role in a few weeks. I’ve never interviewed for ER, what kind of questions can I expect?
I have a first round interview for an equity research role in a few weeks. I’ve never interviewed for ER, what kind of questions can I expect?
+81 | Q&A - Buyside Equity Research Analyst/PM | 29 | 6d | |
+32 | How the heck do you learn all of this stuff? | 10 | 1d | |
+28 | My experience on the sell side | 20 | 2w | |
+24 | Clues in Financial Reporting Analysis | 7 | 3d | |
+17 | Am i fairly compensated? | 9 | 4d | |
+14 | Data Science to PM | 8 | 1w | |
+14 | Heard they don’t model at Oppenheimer | 10 | 2w | |
+12 | ER - Remote Jobs? | 8 | 6d | |
Equity Research at Bank vs IG, High Yield & Leveraged Loans Research at Asset Manager | 4 | 2d | ||
+11 | Who uses sell-side Strategists? Are they valuable? | 4 | 1w |
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In the future, you should try to provide some more detail in your posts to get better answers (i.e. what exp / how much exp do you have; what sector you're interviewing for; etc.). Additionally, just by saying first round, it's not clear if you've already made it past the HR screening or if this is first round with the analyst + team.
With that out of the way, assuming you've already made it past HR, you will likely be meeting some combination of the associates, senior analyst, salespeople, DOR, and adjacent senior analysts within the same overall sector. The questions you will be asked by each will be similar but the 'point' of what they're trying to get at will all be different. At an extremely high level, this is the general theme of each:
Associates
Internal Monologue: Can this person make my life easier? Can I stand seeing this person for 18 hours a day during earnings? Is this person competition for me?
Questions They'll Probably Ask: Can you walk me through your resume? Why ER? What are your thoughts on xyz within the [insert sector of coverage] industry?
Senior Analyst
IM: Can this person make my life easier? Can this person pick up the sector quickly? Can this person figure out the equity research industry quickly? What are this person's expectations in terms of career?
QTPA: Can you walk me through your resume? Why ER? What are your thoughts on xyz within the [insert sector of coverage] industry? Pitch me a stock. Pitch me another stock. Pitch me another stock that you'd short. Where do you see yourself xx years from now? Why sellside ER if you want buyside [assuming you say you want buyside]? Why this sector?
Adjacent Senior Analysts
IM: Can this kid work well with mine when the firm forces us to put out some collaborative piece? Can I work with this kid if he ends up on my team [happens when sectors consolidate and an analyst gets fired]? Include all points from above.
QTPA: Basically identical to the Senior Analyst questions noted above.
Salespeople
IM: I don't have time for this. I do not have the patience to deal with newbies. What happened to the last associate on this team again?
QTPA: How good are you at presenting complex topics in a very short time frame? Can you provide an example of how you perform under pressure? Pitch me a stock.
Note: While all interviewers will be focused on your overall presentation capabilities and sociability, this part of the interview will be hyperfocused on it. Confidence and showmanship will be rewarded if done right. They're literally salespeople so this should not come as a surprise.
DOR
IM: When is lunch again? Oh crap I forgot I had to interview that associate again. Whatever, I'll wing it.
QTPA: Can you walk me through your resume? Why ER? Why this firm? Why this sector? What about your experiences do you think make you a good fit? Pitch me a stock. Pitch me another stock. Pitch me another stock with a sell rating this time. What did the Dow/S&P/Nasdaq close at yesterday? [Insert stupid brainteasers]? [Insert stupid math questions]?
Note: While some DORs can be absolutely vicious, this is basically an HR interview w/ pitches+brainteasers.
You should strive to make a good impression on everybody you meet as any one of these people can likely veto a hiring decision if you really rub them the wrong way. But ultimately, the one to make an affirmative decision to hire you (and likely won't be vetoed if he/she really likes you) is the senior analyst + input from associates.
Good luck.
From someone that has been through the process, this is fantastic. Incredibly accurate down to the DOR in my view.
This is a great breakdown
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