Follow up after final interview for an Environmental Commodities trading firm
Hello all,
First post, so fry me up if this is dumb.
I just finished my final round interview with an Environmental Commodities trading firm. Here’s how it all went down:
Recruiter finds me on LinkedIn and says “you’ve got the background we’re looking for, wanna do an introductory call?”
I say yeah, goes well and I get an interview. Process is supposed to be as follows: recruiting call, then video call with CEO (small office), then video call with a desk manager, then if that goes well a personality assessment and a business case, but you get flown out to NY to present the business case (typically).
But... here’s how it went for me: I do the phone call, then the next week I interview with the CEO via video conference call. Very behavioral, almost no technical questions. I get contacted by the recruiter later that day and he says “CEO likes you, says you had good knowledge and interest, in fact, he likes you so much that you don’t need to interview with the desk manager, we’re just gonna give you your personality assessment and business case now.” But here’s the thing, he also says the CEO said I had a good screen presence so “we’re doing the business case presentation via video conference call again.” Sketch I thought right? Like he was maybe bullshitting me? Would love to get a theory on whether or not to take that at face value. Anyway two weeks later I present my PowerPoint and I thought it went well, CEO and the desk manager I would’ve interviewed with the second time are there. Then after the presentation the recruiter texts me all this stuff about me not being concise and I coulda answered some of the questions better (he was in the room this time, not the first time). Kinda worried me. Anyway I send a personalized thank you to both the CEO and the Desk Manager the following morning. It was about a page long (think cover letter length) revisiting some of the topics from the interview. Thought that was ok but I later learned that’s way too long in the trading world. Day after that the CEO replies saying thanks we’ll follow up by next week, desk manager doesn’t, but I get a text from the recruiter saying “you sent a real long email to xxx (desk manager) bud, but I tried to make it shine.” Made me feel even worse that I left a bad impression on the desk manager. This was last Monday, exactly a week ago. So today was thinking of sending this to the desk manager:
Hi xxx,
I know you’re busy so I’ll be brief.
I just ran across “Green Bonds” in the news today and thought you might find them interesting. They’re fixed-income securities and over $155 Billion worth were issued in 2017. Also, regulations are still pretty low. Figured they might be something new to consider for [the firm’s] client portfolios if you aren’t already investing in them.
Best,
RuralRick
Thought it would show I not only am interested in the markets/firm but also that I’m self aware enough to make this email much more concise without being overly apologetic or desperate sounding.
What’re your thoughts? Am I out of line suggesting a new idea or mentioning something in the news? Better to leave it alone or will it help? Thanks
Sending a page long thank you email is not acceptable in ANY industry. Maybe if you were interviewing to be a journalist/writer, then it would be tolerable. Second, the desk manager and the CEO have made up their decision after the interview. No matter, how personalized or generic your thank you emails may be, it's not going to improve your chances at getting the role. Harsh words, but true. I'm sure most would agree with me.
Also, just because your desk manager did not respond to your thank-you email, doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't like you. There are many professionals who do not reply back to ANY thank-you emails.
Finally, you could send out that email to the desk manager. But I'm sure you know as well that you're out of the race and it's best for you to move on. Cheers and good luck!
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